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AN OUTLINE OF POLITICAL GROWTH 
IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 



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AN OUTLINE 



POLITICAL GROWTH 



THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 



BY 



EDMUND HAMILTON SEARS, A.M. 

PRINCIPAL OF MARY INSTITUTE, SAINT LOUIS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 

1908 

All rights reserved 



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COPTKIGHT, 1900, 

bt the macmillan company. 



Set up and elcctrotyped. Published May, 1900. Reprinted 
October, 1908, 






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Norfaooli JPresa 

J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U S.A. 



PREFACE 

The nineteenth century has had a peculiarly interesting 
history. Its achievements have been so rich and varied as to 
bewilder the mind that tries to apprehend them each and all 
with clearness and accuracy. In art there has been a return 
to nature, with many gratifying and some subtle and ques- 
tionable results. The same tendency has manifested itself in 
poetry, and is to be traced through such widely differing 
authors as Wordsworth, Leconte de Lisle, and Pushkin. Both 
romanticists and realists have made brilliant contributions to 
fiction, and the decadents have at least called forth a storm 
of criticism. History has seen the development of the trained 
specialist and original investigator. Science has fathomed 
some of nature's deepest secrets and revolutionized industry. 
And in the domain of politics the people have put forth their 
strength and obtained constitutions. 

These are merely a few of the notable movements of the 
century. All of those that are here enumerated have accom- 
plished vast results, and which of them is the more important 
and significant cannot be said. Science has effected stupen- 
dous changes ; but so too have the revolutions in politics been 
far-reaching and momentous. It is largely through those 
revolutions that the human mind has been emancipated, dead- 
ening tyranny abolished, and science allowed to work its 
beneficent reforms. It would therefore appear that the politi- 
cal progress of the century has been of a vital and funda- 
mental character, and that the successive triumphs of popular 
institutions cannot but form a profoundly interesting story. 



vi PREFACE 

It is just that story that is recorded in the following pages. 
Wherever the people have taken the government into their 
own hands, or forced a recognition, however imperfect, of their 
chartered rights, they have been included in this brief account 
of political growth and progress. But though the work claims 
to be only an outline and by no means an original investiga- 
tion, it is not a mere record of political facts and constitu- 
tional changes. Indeed, it would be difficult to define a 
political fact. Oriental peoples do not, as a rule, have any 
political life, and do not grow or change from one century 
to another. But among the progressive nations all historic 
events have in the end a political significance ; for out of 
them arises the whole framework of government and consti- 
tutional life. Hence it is as difficult to make a history out of 
mere legislative annals as it is to make bricks out of sand. 
Congressional records have no cohesion apart from everyday 
circumstance. Accordingly, the present treatise deals with all 
the varied events and happenings that make up the story of a 
nation's life, even wars receiving some mention, though they 
are not narrated in detail.' 

Doubtless many would assert that a record of political 
growth should be a record of movements and tendencies 
rather than an account of individual countries, and that tides 
of progress which have swept over the whole world cannot be 
adequately described when each nation has its own separate 
treatment. That there is force in this objection may be 
readily admitted; but the fact remains that a nation cannot 
be a nation unless it has a life and history of its own. It was 
to portray that life and history that the present work was 
written, and the separate treatment was designedly adopted. 
There are excellent works that emphasize the unity of con- 
temporaneous movements and events; but their very plan 
prevents them from giving a connected sketch of each country 



PREFACE 



that is treated, and the connected sketch is for many purposes 
convenient and desirable. 

It is hoped that even this meagre outline of events may 
awaken an interest in political study, and create a desire for 
a fuller knowledge of the progress of democracy. For the 
benefit of all who may be so stimulated a bibliography is 
placed at the end of the volume. It is by no means exhaust- 
ive, and is not intended for the advanced specialist who is 
sure to have access to the many admirable and learned bibliog- 
raphies that have been published. But to many students who 
seek fuller information than the present volume affords it 
may serve a useful purpose. 

E. H. S. 



Saint Louis, 
January, 1900. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Introduction £...1 

Book I 
CONTINENTAL EUROPE 

Part I 

THE LATIN NATIONS 

CHAPTER I 
The French Revolution and Napoleon 16 

CHAPTER II 

The Congress of Vienna. — The Bourbon Restoration. — Louis 

Philippe 28 

CHAPTER III 
The Second Republic. — The Second Empire .... 38 

CHAPTER IV 
The Third Republic 46 

CHAPTER V 
Italy 75 

CHAPTER VI 

Spain 96 

iz 



X CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VII 

PAGE 

Portugal 113 

CHAPTER VIII 
Belgium 122 

CHAPTER IX 
Two Minor States: San Marino and Andorra .... 130 

Part II 

SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA 

CHAPTER I 
Austria-Hungary . 137 

CHAPTER H 
The Balkan States * , . . 154 

CHAPTER in 
Russia . . . . 180 

Part III 

THE TEUTONIC NATIONS 

CHAPTER I 
Germany . 197 

CHAPTER II 
Holland . , . . 215 

CHAPTER III 
Denmark and Iceland . .- 224 



CONTENTS xi 

CHAPTER IV 

PAGB 

Sweden and Norway 236 

CHAPTER V 
Switzerland 249 

Book II 

GEEAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

CHAPTER I 

Character of Great Britain's Political Progress. — Her 

History from 1800 to the Death of George III. in 1820 . 265 

CHAPTER II 
George IV. —William IV 277 

CHAPTER III 
Queen Victoria's Reign to the Death of Lord Palmerston . 286 

CHAPTER IV 
Mr. Gladstone. — Lord Beaconsfield. — Recent Events . 298 

CHAPTER V 
Canada. — Newfoundland 331 

CHAPTER VI 
Australia 347 

CHAPTER VII 
New Zealand 357 

CHAPTER VIII 
South Africa , 365 



xii CONTENTS 

Book III 

THE UNITED STATES 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

The Beginnings of the Republic 383 

CHAPTER II 
The Administrations of Washington, John Adams, and Jef- 
ferson 387 

CHAPTER III 
The Administrations of Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy 

Adams 394 

CHAPTER IV 
The Administrations of Jackson and Van Bdren . . . 403 

CHAPTER V 
The Administrations of Harrison and Tyler, Polk, and Tay- 
, LOR AND Fillmore ......... 407 

CHAPTER VI 
The Administrations of Pierce and Buchanan .... 414 

CHAPTER VII 
Lincoln's Administration. — The Civil War .... 422 

CHAPTER VIII 
The Administrations of Johnson and Grant. — Reconstruction 426 

CHAPTER IX 
The Administrations of Hayes, Garfield, and Arthur . . 437 

CHAPTER X 
The Administrations of Cleveland, Harrison, and McKinley 445 



CONTENTS xiii 

Book IV 

SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA 

CHAPTER I 

PAGE 

Mexico 479 

CHAPTER II 
Central America 490 

CHAPTER III 
South America 506 

Book V 
UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES 

CHAPTER I 
Liberia 539 

CHAPTER II 
The Republic of Haiti 542 

CHAPTER III 
The Republic of Santo Domingo 645 

CHAPTER IV 
Japan 547 

CHAPTER V 
India 661 

CHAPTER VI 
SiAM 565 

Conclusion .»...., 568 



POLITICAL GROWTH IN THE NINETEENTH 
CENTURY 

INTRODUCTION 

The French Revolution inaugurated one of the greatest 
epochs of history. Prior to the Revolution government by 
the people was hardly known on the continent of Europe. 
France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and all the 
minor Germanic states were governed in the interests of the 
privileged classes. Switzerland during the seventeenth and 
eighteenth centuries was controlled by an aristocracy, and was 
practically a dependency of France. In Denmark the nobility 
had lost much of its ancient prestige and influence, as its 
power had been broken by a political revolution in 1660; but 
the king exercised autocratic sway. In Sweden, on the other 
hand, the nobles usurped the power and made the king little 
better than a figure-head, until Gustavus III. reasserted the 
royal prerogative toward the close of the eighteenth century ; 
and afterward the country had no immediate political develop- 
ment. In the Netherlands, though the spirit of equality was 
prevalent, it had not created a democratic form of govern- 
ment. England was the only European country in which the 
will of the people was consulted before the French Revolution. 
Yet England was by no means a true democracy. For the 
king exercised his power in an arbitrary and despotic manner, 
and the laboring classes could not vote nor find deliverance 
from cruel laws. Nowhere in Europe were the people truly 
their own masters. They could not vote; they could not make 
or unmake laws. They could not resist the exactions of 
tyrannical rulers and domineering nobles. The theory of the 
divine right of kings was widely prevalent. The privileged 
classes claimed every jot and tittle of their rights, and the 



INTRODUCTION 



common people were not supposed to have any rights at all. 
Consequently, they were oppressed and neglected in many 
ways. Lacking power, they lacked wellnigh everything. 
They suffered from hunger, from sickness, and from excessive 
toil. They were uncleanly, ignorant, and degraded. Their 
petty offences were treated as crimes, and not uncommonly 
punished by death. Nor could they be sure of acquittal when 
unjustly accused. Evidence was not carefully sifted in the 
court of justice; and a poor man charged with crime was 
assumed guilty. Little was done to relieve the condition of 
the sick, the insane, and the impoverished. The day of hos- 
pitals and asylums had not come, and the prisons were scenes 
of brutality and ghastly misery. In some countries the poorer 
classes received much worse treatment than in others, but 
nowhere were they able to better their condition. To do this 
they needed the power to make and unmake laws; and this 
power the nineteenth century was to give them. The old order 
of things was to pass from the hands of a privileged few into 
the hands of the people. Might was not to make right any 
longer. A new era of justice, equality, and liberty was to 
dawn upon the oppressed and suffering commoner; and it was 
heralded by the French Revolution. That bloody episode in 
history inaugurated vast political and social changes, which 
were taking place all through the nineteenth century and 
which have revolutionized the character of government over a 
great part of the civilized world. 

These changes have had common features where they have 
occurred ; but they have not produced the same political con- 
ditions in all countries and among all peoples. That were 
indeed impossible. For they have been introduced into lands 
differing radically from each other in historic development, 
and inhabited by races of widely varying characteristics and 
methods of thought. Democratic government could not mean 
to the Spaniard what it means to the Saxon ; it could not pro- 
duce the same results among the Norwegians and the Slavs. 
Accordingly, a history of the political growth of the nineteenth 
century should be something more than an unsystematized 
record of the constitutional changes that have been adopted by 
the progressive nations of the world. Rather should it group 
together those countries that have been animated by like 



INTRODUCTION 



impulses and have had a common development or a common 
political experience. That such a classification cannot be 
perfect or thoroughly scientific may, at the outset, be acknowl- 
edged. No matter whether the principle of classification that 
is adopted be geographical, racial, or historical, in the very 
nature of things it must sometimes be at fault. For nations, 
like individuals, are free agents and given to glaring inconsis- 
tencies of conduct. Their actions cannot be reduced to rule 
and theory. The political philosopher who has fathomed, as 
he thinks, the character of a race, a period, or a movement, 
suddenly finds himself confronted by the startling, the unex- 
pected, or the extraordinary, and his well-constructed theories 
fall to the ground. It is in no spirit of dogmatism, therefore, 
that the countries discussed in the present treatise are placed 
in separate political groups. Such an attempt at classification 
is made largely for the purposes of convenience. By means of 
it the mind of the reader may be saved from confusion, and 
the work may be saved from appearing fragmentary and dis- 
connected. It is not exclusively the geographical, the racial, 
or the historic method of classification that is employed; but 
rather is each made use of as it may seem to be appropriately 
applied. Proceeding upon this plan we may recognize the 
following divisions and subdivisions of the subject: — 

I. Tlie Countries of Contineyital Eurojje. — These countries 
are grouped together because their geographical connection 
has given them a common political experience. This is true 
especially of particular eras or periods, when a common im- 
pulse has swept over the whole length and breadth of European 
soil. It was illustrated by the Crusades in the Middle Ages. 
The union of nearly all Europe against Napoleon is a further 
illustration. Again, the revolutionary outbreaks in 1848 and 
the socialistic movements in recent years have shown that the 
term " Europe " is a political as well as a geographical expres- 
sion, and that the different European countries are, to some 
extent, forced to share a common political destiny. Yet these 
countries have by no means progressed together toward the 
modern ideal of government by and for the people. Some of 
them have been truly democratic ; others have used the powers 
of democracy to cover tyranny and despotism. Three subdi- 
visions of the European nations may therefore be recognized. 



INTRODUCTION 



(1) The Latin Countries. It was in France, the greatest and 
most brilliant of the Latin nations, that the modern demo- 
cratic movement was begun by the French Eevolution. The 
impulsive and excitable French people suddenly burst the 
political bonds that held them, threw aside all restraint, and 
asserted their freedom by violence, fury, and blood-guiltiness. 
The same tendency to excess has marked their conduct in more 
recent times, as the atrocities of the Commune in 1871 and the 
vindictive persecution of Dreyfus may testify. Explosiveness, 
vehemence, and sentimentality characterize the French people ; 
and these same traits seem to belong to the Latin races of 
Southern Europe. Hence, in Portugal, in Spain, and in Italy, 
we see political progress accompanied by reckless utterance, 
shifting administrations, unsteadiness of purpose, and seasons 
of popular apathy succeeded by seething discontent and revo- 
lutionary activity. These nations, it is to be noticed, have 
shown themselves quite as progressive in adopting universal 
suffrage as the better educated Teutonic peoples;^ but in no 
one of them does there exist a government that can properly 
be called democratic. In no one of them do. the people exer- 
cise an intelligent control of affairs. 

With these nations is to be classed Belgium, for its politics 
are dominated by the excitable Southern temper. A large 
portion of its population is Germanic, but the Celtic element 
seems to have given its characteristics to the whole nation and 
to have controlled its political development. Hence Belgium 
has recently made radical constitutional changes in a period of 
feverish excitement attended by extensive strikes of the 
workingmen. 

(2) The political development of Russia, Austria-Hungary, 
and the various nations of Southeastern Europe has been re- 
tarded both by geographical, racial, and historic causes. 
Situated as they are, these countries have been almost as much 
subject to Asiatic as to European influences; they are, to a 
considerable extent, peopled by races that have the subservient 
Oriental temper; and they were, through many centuries, the 
scene of internecine conflicts, cruel tyranny, and strange 

1 Universal suflfrage exists in France and Spain ; but not in Italy and Portn- 
gal. It is found in Denmark and in the German Empire ; but not in Hollaiul, 
Sweden, Norway, nor in most of the separate states that compose Germany. 



INTRODUCTION 



political vicissitudes. In Southeastern Europe, the Slav, the 
German, the Turanian, the Greek, the Vlach, the Turk, and 
the Albanian have lived side by side, and seldom have they 
mingled in amity and concord. Among these peoples the 
Austrian-Germans have held a peculiar place. Belonging to 
the great Teutonic race, ruled by the splendid Hapsburg House, 
dwelling almost in the shadow of the Alps, they have shared 
the civilization and the political experiences of Western 
Europe. But in the end they were forced to turn rather to the 
East than to the West, and to-day they are working out their 
destiny with Czechs, Magyars, Poles, Ruthenians, and other 
uncongenial peoples. And their experience is not dissimilar 
to that of the other peoples who are here grouped together. 
Austria, Russia, and the countries of Southeastern Europe are 
not homogeneous. It is rather because they have clashed so 
frequently that they have been slow to break loose from the 
customs, the traditions, and the political ideals of the past. 

(3) Five European countries — Germany, Holland, Den- 
mark, Norway, and Sweden — are peopled by various branches 
of the Teutonic race ; and, though differing widely in temper, 
manners, and customs, the inhabitants of these countries yet 
possess common aspirations, common race instincts, and com- 
mon political views. These countries are all Protestant 
(though Germany is one third Catholic) ; they all have admi- 
rable educational systems ; and in all of them the people are 
reflective rather than emotional.^ Moreover, in all these 
Teutonic countries two traits, dissimilar and yet not antago- 
nistic, are found to be deeply rooted in the national character, 
— independence, and respect for authority. It is largely owing 
to these traits that the Teutonic countries have been moved by 
the same political ideals, and have had a similar political 
development. All of them have clung to monarchy, even 
Holland having ultimately preferred the rule of a king to a 
republican form of government ; yet all of them have hedged 
the king about by constitutional safeguards, which protect the 
people from tyranny and despotism. As the subsequent pages 
will show, these safeguards have more than once been set aside 

1 Such broad generalizations are only approximately accurate. The Dutch 
are phlegmatic, the Danes vivacious, and the Norwegians fiery and impetu- 
ous, like the old Vikings, when once aroused. 



INTRODUCTION 



by self-willed sovereigns; but in the end the people have shown 
themselves supreme, and have not allowed the liberty of the 
individual to be sacrificed to the outworn theory of absolutism. 
True, the Emperor of Germany has shown himself an autocrat, 
and the individual who stands against him is imprisoned for 
Use-viajest4 ; but his extravagant self-assertion has offended 
the thoughtful portion of his subjects, and the growth of the 
Social Democrats in Germany points to the ultimate overthrow 
of a mediseval imperialism. The Teutonic nations move 
slowly, but they move toward the democratic ideal of en- 
liglitened self-government. 

With these nations Switzerland is classed in the present 
treatise, because the Swiss Confederation had a Germanic 
origin and because the Cantons are to-day largely inhabited by 
a Germanic population. It must be admitted that the pecu- 
liarities of its political organization fairly entitle Switzerland 
to a place by itself, and make it difficult to class it with any 
group of nations. But though its government lias been con- 
structed on the federative plan and resembles no other in 
Europe, it still remains true that the Swiss people have shown 
the dominant Germanic traits in their political development. 
They have shown a sturdy self-respect, a love of individual 
freedom, and a tendency to recognize constitutional authority. 
Certainly, the political growth of Switzerland illustrates the 
German rather than the French view of government. 

II. Great Britain and her Colonies. — One remarkable Ger- 
manic people left its home in continental Europe many centu- 
ries ago, and founded what was destined to become one of the 
greatest of modern nations. The Saxons are treated by them- 
selves, both because their island home has made them inde- 
pendent of the rest of Europe, and because their political 
institutions have a character that is all their own. Even when 
the divine right of kings was generally recognized, the Saxon 
began to demand a share in the functions of government; and 
this demand he has pressed home through centuries of politi- 
cal warfare. Hence, the English parliamentary system grew up 
and gradually became the most perfect example of representa- 
tive government the world has seen. At the opening of the 
nineteenth century it was in the highly developed state to 
which seven centuries of constitutional life and effort had 



INTRODUCTION 



brought it; but there was still room for radical changes, and 
that these changes were brought about later will be shown. 

But the Anglo-Saxon people was too full of life and energy 
to confine its political life to a single island. The race spread 
all over the world, and in every quarter of the globe the Anglo- 
Saxon laid his hand on rich and fertile lands and claimed them 
as his own. As his claim was substantiated and these posses- 
sions began to teem with Anglo-Saxon homes, the same politi- 
cal instincts which had created the English Constitution caused 
a new and notable development of representative institutions. 
The Colonies of Great Britain borrowed her system of govern- 
ment; at the same time they altered it and adapted it to more 
democratic conditions of life and society than prevailed in the 
mother-country. But their alterations were not radical. The 
colonial systems of government were an orderly and natural 
development from that of Great Britain herself, not a sur- 
render of those political privileges which the Englishman 
holds dear. Hence, the Colonies of Great Britain are appro- 
priately treated in connection with the mother-country, and 
as making a part of one vast imperial system whose members 
must become more closely allied as the principles of federa- 
tion gain strength and recognition. 

Not all of the British Colonies, however, are considered in 
the present work, for not all of them by any means have had 
an independent political development. Three classes of colo- 
nies are recognized by the British government: (1) Crown 
colonies; (2) colonies with representative institutions; and 
(3) colonies having responsible government. The first are 
controlled entirely by the Crown, acting through its ministers. 
The second are controlled partially, the Crown having the 
right to veto legislation and exercising authoiity over public 
officers. The last recognize the Crown as the ultimate source 
of power, for they accept the Governor-General whom the 
Crown appoints, and accord to him, as representing the sov- 
ereign, a restricted right of veto over legislation; but they 
frame and adopt their own Constitutions (with the approval of 
the British Parliament), and they choose their own officers in 
such manner as the Constitution provides. 

Most of Great Britain's Colonies belong to the first class; a 
few of them to the second; while Canada, Newfoundland, 



INTRODUCTION 



the Australian Colonies, New Zealand, Cape Colony, and Natal 
belong to the third. These last-named colonies are peopled 
largely by Anglo-Saxons. Hence, possessing an English 
population and English institutions, they are appropriately 
placed in a single class with the mother-country. 

III. The United States of America. — This great American 
Republic ,is also an Anglo-Saxon country. Its thoroughly 
democratic system of government is plainly a product of the 
English political genius, inspired and quickened by new expe- 
riences in a new and stimulating world. But just because of 
these new and profound experiences the American Anglo- 
Saxons could not simply reproduce on American soil the Eng- 
lish Constitution. Hamilton, English by birth, would fain 
have done this, though even he would have allowed consider- 
able modifications. Jefferson, a profounder student of history, 
saw that America must have its own development. His view 
prevailed, and the Constitution and government of the United 
States are the expression of the new democracy, which, 
through the federative principle, has attained to national 
strength and greatness. The Americans have preserved the 
English love of liberty, and the English respect for the rights 
of the people; but they have given democratic institutions 
such free and full development that their country has nowhere 
been more fiercely criticised than in England itself; and it 
should be considered by itself both because of its individual 
character and its vast historic importance. 

IV. Mexico, Central America, and South America. — These 
vast stretches of country, with their numerous states, have 
received their political growth from the people of the Latin 
race. Hence, they are closely allied to the Latin nations of 
Europe, and throughout the nineteenth century they have 
shown the same restlessness and instability that have charac- 
terized France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. But the conditions 
under which they have fought their way to independence and 
adopted democratic institutions have been adverse, and a 
lenient judgment may fairly be passed upon their short- 
comings. If they have failed to become genuine republics, 
allowance must be made for centuries of oppression, for a 
bigoted priestly rule, for prevailing ignorance and super- 
stition, and for lack of political training. Yet some of them 



INTRODUCTION 



have made notable progress in spite of these drawbacks, and 
in all of them the attempt to establish republican institutions 
shows that the ideal of self-government is more or less per- 
fectly followed. There is no doubt that the example of the 
United States has inspired the people of these countries with 
a love of democracy, and has created a kinship between the 
Spanish American states and the great North American Re- 
public. These countries, therefore, though they cannot prop- 
erly be classed with the United States, may fittingly be placed 
in the group that immediately follows it. 

V. Unclassified Countries. — Democracy has found its way 
into every continent, but in Asia and Africa it has thus far 
received a very scant recognition. The African race has not 
yet shown itself capable of self-government. It has attempted 
to found a republic in West Africa, and another on the island 
of Haiti, but neither of them has flourished. The mulattoes of 
Haiti have also founded a republic, so called, which goes by 
the name of San Domingo;^ but they have been no more 
successful than their darker brethren in establishing demo- 
cratic rule. Neither Liberia, Haiti, nor San Domingo has 
contributed anything to the political progress of the century. 

Asia has proved hardly more congenial than Africa to the 
growth of constitutional government; yet one Asiatic country 
has made astonishing progress in the last few decades. 
Japan, after borrowing many things from Europe, finally bor- 
rowed political ideas and practices, and made the people the 
rulers of the country. This change was not accomplished 
easily or all at once ; but little by little the Japanese learned 
the meaning of responsible government, and emancipated 
themselves from the traditions which had bound them for 
hundreds of years. Their recent history is well worthy of 
study, as it shows that even in the Orient the warfare of 
political parties has become a chief factor in national progress 
and development. 

No other Asiatic country besides Japan has shown marked 
democratic tendencies ; but for reasons that are given in their 
proper connection both India and Siam have been included in 
the present treatise. The former country, however much or 

1 Or Santo Domingo. But usage seems to prefer San Domingo for the State, 
aud Santo Domingo for its capital city. 



10 INTRODUCTION 



little it is gaining politically, is at least receiving object-les- 
sons in the art of government; and Siam has lately attracted 
attention because it has allowed the introduction of modern 
inventions and improvements. 

The countries that have been thus grouped and classified do 
not altogether comprise a half of the earth's surface. De- 
mocracy, therefore, has still vast fields before it to enter and 
subdue. But it is a significant fact that the races possessing 
the greatest genius for government are continually extending 
their jurisdiction over new territory, and thus bringing new 
lands into the political arena of the world. Australia, New 
Zealand, South Africa, and vast stretches of the Dominion of 
Canada were outside of the sphere of politics until England 
brought them under her imperial sway. Nor did civilization 
enter Siberia until Russia took up her mighty march toward 
the Pacific Ocean. It was indeed a sorry type of civilization 
that she carried into the Siberian wilds. Its emblems were 
but too frequently the knout, the dungeon, and the convict's 
garb. Yet Russia is one of the growing and progressive nations 
of the world, even if it has not yet adopted constitutional gov- 
ernment; and the spread of Russian influence must ultimately 
mean the spread of commercial activity, law, order, and educa- 
tion. Hence, the Slav, as well as the Saxon, is contributing 
to the world's political development, though hardly as yet to 
the cause of democratic government; and the Latin and Teu- 
tonic peoples are furthering the same end. When we consider 
the vast areas that have been added to civilization during the 
last hundred years, we may well question whether a history of 
political growth in the twentieth century will not include 
nearly all the countries in the world. 



BOOK I 

CONTINENTAL EUROPE 



Part I 

TEE LATIN NATIONS 

FRANCE PORTUGAL 

ITALY BELGIUM 

SPAIN SAN MARINO 

ANDORRA 



CHAPTER I 

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON 

Though the lot of the people was quite generally an un- 
happy one prior to the nineteenth century, in France it was 
especially hard. The States-General, an ancient assembly 
composed of the three estates, namely, the clergy, the nobility, 
and the commons, had been summoned by Richelieu in 1614. 
But this gathering accomplished nothing at that time, for it 
had no legislative power. Accordingly, it was ignored for 
nearly two hundred years, and during this time the people had 
no means of voicing their grievances. Yet these grievances 
were bitter and increasingly great. The people bore the 
whole burden of taxation, while the clergy and the nobles 
were exempted. The kings plunged the country into san- 
guinary wars, and exhausted its resources. The peasants grew 
poorer and poorer, and died in great numbers from famine. 
They commonly lived in houses of wood and stone which had 
no windows. They dressed in rags and seldom tasted meat. 
In some districts, indeed, they lived chiefly on grass and the 
bark of trees. Yet, poor and squalid as they were, it was not 
their poverty alone that made them bitter and resentful. For 
while they lived in misery, the court was extravagant and the 
nobles were riotous and prodigal.^ The grimy and emaciated 
rustics could not help comparing their own squalor with the 
luxury of the privileged few. The King gave away every year 
sums equivalent to many millions of dollars. The money 
spent upon his dogs and horses would have maintained a vil- 
lage ; and in and around the palace no less than fifteen thou- 
sand people found support. The court, moreover, was a 
scene of gayety and frivolous pleasure even while the people 

1 " The court was the tomb of the nation, but it was as well a charming as 
a brilliant tomb." — Von Hoist, " The French Revolution," I. 74. 

15 



16 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

were perishing. Louis XVI. did, indeed, pity his suffering 
subjects and try to help them ; but the nobles and ladies about 
him did not share, or even understand, his kindness of heart. 
They lived simply for enjoyment. Of conscience and deep 
feeling the French nobles had little. Their code was honor, 
not morality; and though they were faithful to it, they made 
it sanction vicious habits of life. Courage and loyalty to the 
King were their especial virtues ; and these virtues, it must be 
admitted, they showed conspicuously. They had the pride, 
the spirit, and the recklessness that result from power. But 
toward the common people they were haughty and insolent. 
They owned large estates, but they used them merely to main- 
tain themselves in luxury. The peasantry were still required 
to give them certain feudal services; and these services were 
exacted with merciless severity. The peasant had to bake in 
his lord's oven and grind in his lord's mill; he could not sell 
his wine until the great estate owner had had his chance at 
the market; for a fixed number of days each year he was com- 
pelled to give his own labor and that of his oxen ; and he was 
obliged to buy salt of the King whether he wanted it or not, or 
else go to prison or the galleys. The taxes were absurdly 
high, but if they were not paid the delinquent's furniture was 
sold. But perhaps the most wanton and galling injustice 
arose from that passionate love of hunting which the French 
nobility shared with that of England and other European 
countries. For no matter how much damage the game did to 
the crops, the peasant could not protect himself. It was a 
crime for him to slay the creatures of the forest; nor could he 
prevent the hounds and hunters from trampling his fields of 
grain. 

For all these abuses there was no remedy, and in spite of 
heavy taxation, the nation was poor also. For taxation can- 
not make prosperity. An impoverished peasantry cannot long 
furnish wealth to a privileged leisure class. The nobles gam- 
bled their fortunes away; the extravagance of the court ex- 
hausted the national treasury. The nation was sinking deeper 
and deeper into debt. To provide an adequate income became 
the serious and indeed the impossible task of the King's Minis- 
ter of Finance. One man after another was tried in this of&ce, 
but all alike failed. Necker, an honest and capable man, only 



PART I THE FRENCH EEVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON 17 

revealed the true state of affairs to the public without finding 
any remedy for it. Calonne resorted to dangerous speculation 
which soon impaired the national credit. Brienne suggested 
that the nobles and the clergy be taxed, but they refused, and 
he laid down his office. There seemed no way out of the diffi- 
culty but to appeal to the people. This the King did by sum- 
moning the States-General, and by this step he inaugurated the 
Revolution. 

That tremendous period was so violent and so sanguinary 
that it has been too often judged by its wantonness and its ex- 
cesses. It was the bane of the Revolution that its course was 
guided by the Parisian populace; and that populace was indeed 
a scurrilous crew. The men and women that composed it 
were vulgar, coarse, ignorant, and brutal. Their cruelty and 
bloodthirstiness took away from the movement the dignity 
that should have belonged to so vast and significant an upris- 
ing. The self-control, the moral earnestness, and the noble 
love of freedom that characterized the English resistance to 
Charles I. were conspicuously wanting in Paris in 1789, when 
a mob of fishwives and drunken rioters made the streets run 
with blood. But it must be remembered that even while the 
worst atrocities of the time were being perpetrated, grave, 
dignified, and wise attempts at legislation were being made.^ 
It was not in vain that Louis XVI. summoned the States-Gen- 
eral, though he little dreamed that the Parliament he called 
into being would sweep the feudal structure of society utterly 
away. 

Three national legislatures sat in Paris during the revolu- 
tionary period. The first was called the National Assembly 
(later the Constituent Assembly), and grew out of the States- 
General called together by the King. When the three estates 
met at Versailles on May 5, 1789, the people's representatives 
found that the clergy and the nobles insisted that the three 
orders should not vote individually, but by class. This would 
mean that the third, or people's class, would always be de- 
feated by a vote of two to one. For the clergy and the nobility 

1 All over France the grave problems of the hour were receiving due con- 
sideration, and many excellent schemes of reform were proposed. Hence, in 
adopting new and progressive legislation, the Assembly was but obeying the 
will of the nation. Consult the cahiers, or memorials, contained in the 
" Archives Parlementaires," 1 Serie, Tome 3. 
c 



18 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

would invariably combine against the people. If, however, 
the deputies voted individually, the people could outvote the 
other two estates combined ; for their representatives were 584, 
while the clergy numbered 291, and the nobles 270. As the 
first two estates would not consent to individual voting, the 
third estate took matters into their own hands, formed an as- 
sembly of their own, and invited the nobles and the clergy to 
join them, which some members of these two orders reluctantly 
did. 

The National Assembly sat until September 30, 1791. It 
was quite the most dignified and respectable of the three legis- 
lative bodies that are connected with the Revolution, and its 
work was of benefit to France. Some of its legislation was 
chiefly destructive in character ; for it could not build a new 
order of society on mediaeval foundations. Accordingly, it 
passed the famous Declaration of Rights,^ thereby establishing 
equality for all; it swept away the peerage, hereditary dis- 
tinctions, and all feudal privileges; and it changed the King's 
title from " King of France " to " King of the French." But 
the work of upbuilding also received due attention. For a 
new Constitution was gradually framed; the right of suffrage 
was given to the people, though based upon a property quali- 
fication; trial by jury was established for criminal cases; the 
country was divided into eighty-three departments, the old 
division into provinces being abolished; and to save the nation 
from bankruptcy, the lands of the clergy were appropriated 
and sold. 

When the King had sworn to defend the new Constitution, 
the National Assembly considered that its labors were com- 
pleted, and it accordingly dispersed. Its successor, which was 
called the Legislative Assembly, met first on October 1, 1791. 
It was dominated by the Mountain, a vehement and aggressive 
body which sat on the higher benches of the Left, and was 
largely composed of the Jacobins and the Cordeliers. Con- 
trolled by such turbulent spirits, the Assembly forgot that its 
mission was to revise the laws, and engaged in a bitter and 

1 The language of the decree was : Toutes distinctions honorifiques sup^rio- 
rite et puissance resultantes du regime feodal sont abolies. Also: La foi- 
hommage, et tout autre service personnel, auquel les vassaux, censitaires et 
tenanciers ont ete assujettes iusqu'a present, sont abolis. — " Archires Parle- 
mentaires," 1 Serie, Tome 2, 501. 



PART I THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON 19 

deadly conflict witli royalty. Wild scenes took place during 
its sittings. Austria, Prussia, and Piedmont combined to 
restore Louis XVI. to his full powers and privileges, and 
France was therefore threatened with foreign invasion. Infu- 
riated by this danger the populace of Paris made Danton their 
leader, overawed the Assembly, invaded the Tuileries, and 
sacked the palace, after butcliering the Swiss guards. The 
King found protection with the Assembly, but he and his family 
were henceforth imprisoned in the Temple. Soon after this 
the prisons were broken open, and twelve hundred persons, 
including a hundred priests, were slain. The beautiful 
Princess de Lamballe was among the victims. 

Unable to control the bloodthirsty Parisian rabble, the Leg- 
islative Assembly was obliged to bring its sittings to an end 
and to order the election of a new National Convention. That 
Convention assembled on September 21, 1792, and began its 
unprecedented and infamous career. Its proceedings were not 
uniformly bad, for it saved France from invasion, and some of 
its legislative measures were wise and progressive. To the 
Convention is due the admirable metric system of weights and 
measures, and the foundation of several excellent educational 
institutions. But its iniquities were so great that it will 
always be remembered by the evil that it did rather than the 
good. For it sent the King to the guillotine, and it inaugu- 
rated the Eeign of Terror. That awful period lasted four 
hundred and twenty days, from May 31, 1793, to July 27, 
1794, and before it closed, the guillotine had counted some of 
the most distinguished men and Avomen of France among its 
victims. The Queen, Madame Roland, Danton, and a host of 
less notable persons were sacrificed in the desecrated name of 
Liberty. But Robespierre, who was chiefly responsible for 
this wholesale butchery, overreached himself. The Conven- 
tion found that he was plotting the death of many of its mem- 
bers; so it rose against him, overthrew him, and sent him to 
the guillotine on July 28, 1794. This done, the people's 
thirst for blood was sated, and the Convention was able to 
establish order once more. Acting with great vigor, it sup- 
pressed riots, and, in June, 1795, it adopted a new Constitu- 
tion, which vested the executive power in a Directory of five, 
and the legislative in a Council of Elders, — consisting of 



20 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

two hundred and fifty members, — and a Council of Five 
Hundred. 

This system had merits, but it did not please the Royalists. 
They wished a government more monarchical in character, and 
incited an insurrection against the Convention. Napoleon 
Bonaparte .was chosen to suppress the uprising. He greeted 
the insurgents with grape-shot; they scattered in confusion, 
and order reigned undisturbed. The Convention, having thus 
provided the country with a government, brought its sessions 
to an end. Its career had lasted three years; more than six 
years had passed since the States-General were summoned in 
1789. In these six years the monarchy had been overthrown, 
feudal institutions had been swept away, and the people had 
assumed control of national affairs. These changes had not, 
indeed, taken place without terrible disturbance. All Europe 
had shuddered at the excesses of the French Revolution. Its 
barbarities, its license, and its indecencies had brought lasting 
reproach upon the French nation. Yet, wild, horrible, and 
stormy as the period was, it was still a period of progress. 
The first attempt of the French people at self-government was 
costly, but it had been made. In the midst of bloodshed, 
horror, and chaos the foundations of democracy had been laid. 

The Directory set itself manfully to the task of reanimating 
the prostrate nation. Its measures were wise and were 
crowned with success. Trade revived; agriculture, the arts, 
and the manufactures began to flourish; insurrection was 
suppressed; a Royalist conspiracy was promptly crushed. The 
financial distress was temporarily relieved by a forced loan, 
though this merely postponed the day of national bankruptcy. 
The nation ultimately repudiated its debts of over six billion 
dollars. But it was in the field that the Directory was obliged 
to display especial energy. In 1794 France had driven the 
Austrians out of Belgium, subjugated Holland, and established 
the Rhine as her frontier. But these successes had united 
Russia, Austria, and Great Britain against her, and her con- 
dition was becoming desperate. Fortunately, however, she 
had able generals to send against her eneiAies, and her armies 
restored her prestige by a series of brilliant victories. Hoche 
and others showed unusual military genius; but quite the 
most remarkable of these commanders was Napoleon Bonaparte. 



PART I THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON 21 

Born in Corsica in 1769,^ Bonaparte was at this time twenty- 
six years of age. He was short of stature, pale, and slender, 
but possessed of enormous energy. Men of unusual force 
quailed before his masterful temper. His father, a quiet, indo- 
lent man, belonged to an Italian family that had migrated to 
Corsica early in the sixteenth century. His mother was a 
native Corsican. From her he probably derived much of his 
fiery vehemence, and perhaps, also, some of his bourgeois 
traits and instincts. For, though beautiful, she was ignorant 
and uncultivated. In his youth Napoleon did not show re- 
markable j)romise. He was solitary and unsocial at the mili- 
tary school at Brienne, which he attended for five years ; and 
not until the Eevolution did his powers begin to reveal them- 
selves. He was in Paris in 1792, attached himself to Robes- 
pierre, and, after the tyrant's downfall, was imprisoned. 
Escaping, he distinguished himself by crushing the insurrec- 
tion of October 5, 1795, as already mentioned. 

Appointed by the Directory to take the field against the 
Austrians, he entered Italy in March, 1796, and in less than 
a year was master of the country. The Austrian armies could 
not stand before his vigorous onslaughts, and were driven 
entirely out of Italy. In December, 1797, Bonaparte returned 
to France; but, though the people received him with enthusi- 
asm, the Directory was rendered uneasy by his presence, for it 
viewed his growing popularity with alarm. Accordingly, in 
May, 1798, it despatched him to Egypt, where he made new 
conquests, but met with some reverses. His plans were frus- 
trated by Nelson, who destroyed his fleet on August 1, in the 
Battle of the Nile, and he found that he was sorely needed at 
home; for France had met with a series of disasters during his 
absence. Its armies had been defeated, and it was threatened 
with loss of territory. So Bonaparte returned to Paris in 
October, 1799, overthrew the weak Directory, and established 
the Consulate in its place. 

1 The accepted date of Napoleon's birth is August 15, 1769; but it is by no 
means certain that he was not born on January 7 of the preceding year. At 
any rate, the Corsican records show that on this latter date his mother gave 
birth to a son named Nabulione. Jung (Bonaparte et son Temps, 2 vols., 1880) 
argues that January 7, 1768, is the correct date, and that, in order to gain 
admission to the military school at Brienne, for which he was really too old, 
Napoleon represented himself as the second son instead of the eldest, and 
claimed to be a year and a half younger than he actually was. 



22 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

The newly constituted Government consisted of three Con- 
suls, a Council of State, a Senate composed of eighty life 
members, and a Legislative Body of three hundred. But 
Napoleon was really the Government. He was made First 
Consul, and lie took all the power into his own hands. Acting 
with great vigor and energy, he reentered Italy and gained a 
brilliant victory over the Austrians at Marengo, on June 14, 
1800. Six months later Moreau inflicted a crushing defeat 
upon them at Hohenlinden. Weary of the long conflict, Aus- 
tria signed, in February, 1801, the Treaty of Luneville, which 
allowed France to keep Belgium and the Rhine frontier; and 
in March, 1802, the Peace of Amiens was ratified between 
France and England. 

Thus Napoleon was now free to devote himself to those 
internal reforms that were sorely needed. For France was, 
for a great civilized nation, in a very peculiar condition. She 
had neither laws nor institutions. The Revolution had swept 
the old order away without establishing a new one in its place. 
Napoleon, therefore, had before him at once a great task and 
a great opportunity. The country needed the hand of a states- 
man; and Napoleon showed himself a statesman in what he 
did for France, even if he did not evince first-rate constructive 
genius. He set himself to the work of restoration with great 
energy, and under his vigorous hand new institutions sprang 
rapidly into life. The more important results which he ac- 
complished may be summarized as follows : — 

I. He restored the Catholic Church to its old supremacy. 
The wealth which had been taken from it during the Revolu- 
tion was not returned; but it now received a subsidy from the 
State of about $10,000,000. As France was a Catholic coun- 
try, this step was natural and justifiable; but in taking it 
Napoleon was actuated by interested motives.^ He wished to 
deprive the Bourbons of the support of the Church and to make 
the Pope his ally. And in this end he succeeded. The Church 
of Rome has always been the firm friend of the Bonapartes. 
Napoleon III. recognized this alliance, and in his relations 
with the Church, as in many other respects, he adopted his 
uncle's policy. 

^ Napoleon's hatred for the Pope and the Catholic Church was bitter and 
rancorous. ~ Fortnightly Review, 370, N. S., 567. 



PART I THE FliENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON 23 

II. Kapoleon reconstructed the educational system of the 
country, though with indifferent success. His greatest achieve- 
ment in this direction was the establishment of the University. 
It was a remarkable institution, and it still exists. But in 
organizing it Napoleon showed at once the crudity of his mind 
and his ever active desire for his own aggrandizement. For 
he gave it a narrow intellectual tone, and he shaped its use to 
the needs of his own government. In its courses of study 
mathematics and science received the eminent position that 
was due them; but history, theology, and political science 
were neglected, and the ancient languages secured but little 
attention. And while the end of the University was instruc- 
tion and research, it was also expected to turn out officers 
ready made for State purposes. Moreover, the interests of 
secondary education were almost sacrificed to this one insti- 
tution. 

III. The judicial system was made over and rendered far 
more efficient. The Revolution had created an elective judi- 
ciary. Napoleon had the judges appointed to their positions 
by the Government. And the processes of the courts were 
also changed and improved. 

IV. A series of codes was prepared, which gave the nation 
a complete and admirable body of statutes. The codes were 
four in number : (a) Code Civil, which received the name Code 
Napoleon ; (6) Code de Commerce ; (c) Code Penal ; (d) Code 
d'Instruction Criminelle. The preparation of these codes 
was an enormous task, and Napoleon could do no more 
than inaugurate it, and give his judgment on disputed points 
as the work went on. And his judgment was not always 
good, as he sometimes opposed useful reforms.^ Yet the 
credit of the work must, on the whole, belong to Napoleon, 
without whom it could not have been begun or carried 
through. 

V. The country was sadly in need of a system of local gov- 
ernment, and this Napoleon gave it. But with a view to 
strengthening his own power, he brought the communes into 
too close a relation with the central authority. In this way, 
the Government was able to make itself autocratic and obstruct 

1 For Napoleon's not altogether fortunate influence on the Code Civil, con- 
sult Lanfrey's "History of Napoleon," II. 1(50 et seq. 



24 THE LATIN NATIONS 



the growth of democracy. France has never ceased to suffer 
from the centralization established by Napoleon.^ 

VI. In order to put the finances of the nation in a sounder 
condition, the Bank of France was established. By this means 
the Government was brought into relation with the monetary 
system of the country, and a greater measure of stability was 
given to financial operations. 

VII. The Legion of Honor was founded with a view to en- 
couraging exemplary conduct. Tlie old nobility had been 
swept away by the Kevolution. Napoleon wished to create a 
new aristocracy which would be devoted to the power that gave 
it being. The Legion of Honor, therefore, was a means of fur- 
thering his own personal ends; but in rousing ambition it 
served a useful purpose. 

From this summary it may be seen that France owes much 
to Napoleon's administrative and reforming genius. His 
measures were not always wise, and. they were colored by per- 
sonal ambition; but they fairly entitle their author to be con- 
sidered one of the great civilizing forces of the nineteenth 
century, and they do not merit the destructive criticism with 
which they are sometimes visited.^ 

Napoleon's conduct of affairs was indorsed by the nation. 
In August, 1802, he was made Consul for life with the right 
of naming his successor, more than three million five hundred 
thousand votes being cast in his favor. But his reformatory 
career was soon interrupted. His attitude was aggressive and 
alarmed the great powers. England quarrelled with him over 
the island of Malta, and declared war upon France, in 1803. 
Other countries fell out with him, as his conduct was some- 
times high-handed and offensive. In March, 1804, he shocked 
and startled the sovereigns of Europe by ordering the arrest 
and execution of the Due d'Enghien." This unfortunate young ' 

1 This excessive centralization was perpetuated rather than created by 
Napoleon, for it had characterized the government of France for a long time. 

2 Taine and Lanfrey are two of Napoleon's severest critics, though the 
latter, at least, is an impartial one. Taine is excessively analytical and hardly 
recognizes the part Napoleon played in the march of events ; but his knowl- 
edge of institutions is profound and his study of the period extremely valu- 
able. For the essence of Taine's estimate see " The Modern Regime," I. 132- 
137 (Holt's edition). 

3 This act has been almost universally condemned and can hardly be justi- 
fied. But for a fair presentation of Napoleon's side of the case consult Rope's 
" The First Napoleon," Ch. 11. 



PART I THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON 25 

nobleman was connected with the house of Bourbon, As he 
was suspected of being an accomplice in a plot against the life 
of the First Consul, he was seized on the neutral soil of Baden 
and brought to Paris and shot. So great was the indignation 
excited by the act throughout Europe that Napoleon's friends 
deemed it necessary to strengthen his position. Accordingly, 
the Tribune and the Senate proposed that he be made Emperor. 
The people ratified the proposal, and Napoleon was crowned 
on December 2, 1804. 

Now followed the most triumphant period of his career. 
Great Britain formed coalition after coalition against him, but 
in vain. His former successes were eclipsed by new and aston- 
ishing victories. He crushed the combined Austrian and 
Russian armies at Austerlitz in 1805. Prussia was humbled 
by the battles of Jena and Auerstadt in 1806. In 1807 he 
unwisely conquered Spain, and placed his brother Joseph on 
the Spanish throne. His prospects were somewhat dubious 
in 1809; for in that year the Austrians again took 4;he field 
against him with powerful and well-commanded armies. But 
by the help of strategy, daring, and good fortune he saved 
himself, and gained the decisive victory of Wagram on July 6. 

But his power was on the wane. Wellington was gradually 
driving the French armies out of Spain. Nelson had shattered 
the sea power of France at Trafalgar in 1805. Napoleon's 
forces were now recruited from the striplings of the nation;^ 
yet he believed that he could maintain himself against Europe 
with an army of young men and boys. Even calamity did not 
dismay him. In 1812 he conducted a disastrous expedition 
into Russia, in which he lost over two hundred thousand men.^ 
Yet in the following year he drove Austria into war by fool- 
ishly refusing the concessions which Metternich demanded. 
The allies brought vast armies into the field against him, and 
shattered his power at Leipsic, on October 18, 1813. 

In vain did he try to retrieve his fortunes. The allies in- 
vaded France. He opposed them with consummate skill and 
energy. But they reached Paris and forced it to capitulate. 

1 In 1813 Metternich said to him, " I have seen your soldiers : they are 
mere children." " Memoirs," I. 18ii (Seribner's edition of 1880). 

2 A moderate estimate. See p. 409 in H. B. George's " Napoleon's Invasion 
of Russia" (1899). 



26 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

Napoleon no longer had the nation with him. Rather than 
occasion a civil war, he abdicated, on April 6, 1814, and was 
banished to Elba. Breaking loose from that island in March 
of the following year, he made his way to France. His pres- 
ence was enough to upset the existing government. The old 
generals and soldiers rallied to his standard. Louis XVIII., 
who had been placed upon the French throne, was obliged to 
flee. But ISTapoleon's downfall was only a question of time. 
Once more the great powers united against him. His power 
lasted only a Hundred 'Days. On June 18, Wellington and 
Bliicher defeated him at Waterloo, The rout was complete. 
He was utterly crushed and broken by that one battle ; but its 
importance has been greatly exaggerated by English pride. 
For had Napoleon driven Wellington from the field, he could 
not long have averted irretrievable disaster. He did not have 
an undivided France behind him; and the vast forces of the 
allies wo\ild have speedily overwhelmed his scant battalions. 

It is not easy to estimate Napoleon's place in history. 
Judged from the moral point of view, he failed. His egotism 
was colossal; his nature was coarse; his ambitions were selfish. 
He was inferior, not only to such pure-minded patriots as 
Epaminondas and Washington, but even to such mixed char- 
acters as Alexander and Julius Caesar. By many he has been 
regarded as a monster of evil; and some of his fairest critics 
consider that his influence on the French nation and character 
has been pernicious. Even his reforms, they declare, were 
only a natural sequence of the Revolution, and would have 
come about without his agency. 

But history often shows that a selfish man is an instrument 
of good. Napoleon embodied the levelling influences of his 
time, and it was by falling in with those tendencies that he 
made himself great. He was born into a restless age. He 
saw thrones tottering and the people asserting themselves. 
Acting out the spirit of his age, he rose from obscurity to 
power, trod ancient monarchies under foot, and made France 
greater than she had ever been under her kings. True, he 
ruled her like an autocrat and he left her exhausted. But his 
civil government was able and progressive; and his very great- 
ness was a menace to the kings who followed him. They, the 
representatives of privilege, were feeble and commonplace; 



PART I THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON 27 

he, the self-made ruler, was the mightiest sovereign of his 
time.^ Altogether, his stormy career seemed a natural and 
fitting conclusion to the chaos of the Revolution. In a rude, 
imperfect way it carried forward the work which the Revolu- 
tion had begun; but after the Reign of Terror it was much 
that the work was carried on at all. 

1 Metternicli's penetrating and dispassionate judgment of Napoleon is in- 
teresting: "Napoleon's practical mind enabled him to understand the needs 
of a country where the social edifice had to be rebuilt. . . . He was a born 
conqueror, legislator, and administrator, and he thought he could indulge all 
these inclinations at once. His undoubted genius furnished him with the 
means of doing so. The sentiment of the enormous majority of the nation 
would have been entirely with him, if he had confined himself to the duties of 
government." "Memoirs," I. 86. See also the Portrait of Napoleon in the 
same volume, pp. 269-286. 



CHAPTER II 

THE CONGKESS OF VIENNA. — THE BOURBON RESTORATION. — 
LOUIS PHILIPPE 

Napoleon had caused a mighty upheaval. He effaced old 
boundaries and made new ones. He dethroned kings and 
princes. He swept states out of existence, and materially 
changed the map of Europe. Accordingly, no single hand 
could undo what he had done. Only the great powers, acting 
in concert, could settle the disputes that inevitably arose after 
his overthrow. His first abdication was made on April 6, 
1814. In September of that year tlie famous Congress of 
Vienna assembled to readjust European affairs. It was indeed 
a notable gathering. It included the sovereigns of Russia, 
Austria, and Prussia, many minor princes, and diplomatic 
representatives from every country in Europe, excepting Tur- 
key. Therefore its character was highly conservative. It 
had not met in the interests of progress. Rather did it embody 
the very spirit of intolerance and absolutism. Democracy had 
no friends in that august body. It was assembled in the inter- 
ests of the privileged few. It was sure to do everything it 
could to put liberty in perpetual chains. 

Very deliberately and with much ostentation the Congress 
proceeded with its work. It had difficult questions to settle, 
and it settled them very slowly. Its tardy deliberations ^ were 
made much more tardy by Talleyrand. That astute and 
unscrupulous Frenchman delayed every decision as long as 
possible in the interests of his country. Prostrate and crippled 
as France was, she could but gain by procrastination. 

So the proceedings dragged on until Napoleon's return from 

1 It should be added that this famous Congress did not meet in general con- 
clave, and was not. strictly speaking, a deliberative body. Its work was done 
through committees. 

28 



PART 1 THE BOURBON RESTORATION 29 

Elba startled the leisurely diplomats into more energetic action. 
In June, 1815, they finished their work. They restored Europe 
to her former condition. All that jSTapoleon accomplished 
was, as far as possible, undone. Some new adjustments, it is 
true, were made. Saxony was divided between Prussia and 
its own King. A new partition of Poland was agreed upon. 
Some small districts were taken from the Papal States and 
given to France and Austria. Denmark was obliged to cede 
Norway to Sweden. But the old dynasties dethroned by 
Napoleon were restored. Constitutions were disallowed. 
Democratic principles were smothered. Europe was given 
over to the will of its rulers. The despotism of the Middle 
Ages seemed to be restored; and Napoleon had apparently put 
the cause of popular liberty back for a whole generation, so 
great was the reaction from his turbiilent career and from the 
excesses of the French Revolution. But the potentates of 
Vienna little dreamed what a hopeless task they had under- 
taken. They did not realize that all Europe was in ferment. 
To them rebellion seemed wanton and wicked — an evil thing, 
which must forever be laid to rest. But the people were learn- 
ing to regard it as a sacred right, by which alone they could 
win their liberty. The Age of Revolution was at hand. 

And nothing could have been more sure to breed revolution 
in France than the action of the allies in restoring the Bour- 
bons to the throne. Upon Napoleon's downfall they made the 
Count of Provence King. He was brother of Louis XVI., and 
as Louis XVIII. he began his reign. The title of Louis XVII. 
was awarded by the Royalists to Louis the Dauphin, that 
unhappy youth who died from ill usage in the Temple Tower. 
His kingdom was a prison and suffering his only crown. 

Louis XVIII. came to the throne under unfavorable circum- 
stances. He belonged to the hated Bourbon line; he was 
placed in power by the enemies of France. Naturally, there- 
fore, he was viewed with suspicion by the French people. But 
for a Bourbon he showed himself liberal and progressive. He 
issued a charter granting a limited franchise, and providing 
for the election of a Chamber of Deputies. He allowed very 
few of Napoleon's partisans to be executed; and he allied him- 
self at first with the moderate party and not with the most 
extreme and uncompromising Royalists. Thus something had 



30 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

plainly been accomplished by the Revolution. The restoration 
of the Bourbons did not mean the restoration of absolute mon- 
archy. A Constitution had been granted. The rights of the 
people were, in some feeble measure, recognized. True, the 
King restored the peerage and kept the power of legislation in 
his own hands. But even so, the tyranny and the manifold 
abuses of the ancient regime no longer existed. The newly 
established Chamber of Deputies had but a brief career. It 
sympathized with the gentry, not with the people. Its ten- 
dencies were reactionary. It favored the restoration of feudal 
privileges. Louis therefore dissolved it, declaring at the 
same time that he would rule in accordance with the Constitu- 
tion. Still remaining true to the moderate Royalists, he made 
one of their number, the Duke Decazes, Prime Minister. So 
for a time his conduct was liberal, and the more arrogant 
nobles were rebuked. Not they, but the middle classes exer- 
cised control. 

But in 1820 the Duke of Berri, nephew of the King and heir 
to the throne, was assassinated. The Royalists were excited 
and indignant. They worked upon the King's mind and per- 
suaded him to dismiss Decazes. This done, they found it easy 
to dictate the royal policy and to shape legislation in favor of 
their own reactionary schemes; and it was all the more easy 
to accomplish them because foreign events furthered their 
plans. In Spain and Italy insurrections had broken out 
against the Bourbon princes ruling there ; and Louis was called 
upon by the Holy Alliance to crush the uprising in Spain, 
Tliis mandate he could not but carry out. The Holy Alliance 
had been formed at Paris in 1815 by the rulers of Russia, Aus- 
tria, and Prussia. Ostensibly designed to perpetuate peace 
and to carry Christian principles into the practices of govern- 
ment, it was really a conspiracy against the liberty of Europe. 
But Louis was its beneficiary and was obliged to be its tool. 
He sent an army into Spain and replaced Ferdinand VII. on 
his throne. Thus, the country which had sent its own king 
to the guillotine had become the champion of despotic mon- 
archy. The reactionary course that had now been fairly 
inaugurated was continued to the end of Louis's reign. In- 
trigue and corruption were rife. Elections were manipulated 
in the interests of the central authority. Ecclesiastical bigotry 



PART I THE BOURBON RESTORATION 31 

began to sway government counsels. France seemed to be turn- 
ing away from democratic principles and to be tending toward 
absolutism and privilege. 

And this tendency was increased when Louis died, in 1824, 
and was succeeded by Charles X. Charles was brother of 
Louis XVI. and Louis XVIIL, but quite unlike them in char- 
acter and bent of mind. Louis XVIIL was, like Louis XVI., 
kind-hearted, gentle, moderate in opinion, and not at heart 
opposed to all ideas of progress. Indeed, he may be consid- 
ered one of the best of the Bourbons. He possessed, it is 
true, the vices of his line. He was fond of ease, voracious, 
and self-indulgent; and, in consequence, he grew gouty and 
corpulent. But he loved literature and art; and he had the 
tastes and the address of a polished gentleman. Cliarles X., 
however, was conservative, narrow, and intolerant. He loved 
the past; he turned instinctively from all liberal ideas. He 
was kindly, like his brothers, but firm in his adherence to his 
bigoted and reactionary views. As Count of Artois he had 
exercised a vicious influence, not only in the reign of Louis 
XVIIL, but even before the Revolution. For he steadily 
opposed all liberal and progressive measures. 

Naturally, then, he proved but a sorry monarch. He did 
not fit into the nineteenth century. From the first he at- 
tempted to rule as if France were still an absolute monarchy. 
He revived worn-out rites and ceremonies. He endeavored to 
restore primogeniture. He attached excessive penalties to 
thefts committed on churches. His crowning act of folly, 
however, was his attempt to fetter free speech. For he tried 
to establish a censorship of the press and to prevent the pub- 
lication of all utterances obnoxious to his own intolerant views. 
But happily his effort was not successful. Literature could 
not have thrived under such restriction. A premium would 
have been placed on bigotry and adulation of power. 

But though checked in this direction, he continued his tyran- 
nical policy. In 1827 he disbanded the National Guard for 
crying out against his ministers. This high-handed act was 
extremely unwise and excited great indignation. The National 
Guard was composed of worthy and well-to-do citizens. So 
the King, in suppressing it, was creating enemies who were 
by no means to be despised. Not long after this he dissolved 



32 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

the Chamber of Deputies ; but the liberal majority in the new 
Assembly was so great that his Ministers were compelled to 
resign. Their successors introduced liberal measures. 
Charles, accordingly, dismissed them, and asked Prince 
Polignac to form a new ministry. 

Now, Prince Polignac was one of the most narrow and 
bigoted of the reactionist nobles. Popular rights had no more 
determined enemy than he, and Charles did the most unwise 
thing possible in selecting him for Prime Minister. By doing 
so he really started a crusade against the people ; and in such 
a contest the people were in the end sure to win. They were 
not weak and exhausted as they were after Napoleon's over- 
throw. Ever since the Bourbon restoration they had been 
exercising their native thrift and economy, and had been 
growing prosperous. With prosperity came strength, confi- 
dence, and assertion of rights. Moreover, the press, in spite 
of Charles's attempts to control it, was formidable. Its sym- 
pathies were liberal. It clamored loudly against Prince 
Polignac's appointment. So the King was confronted by 
enemies on every side. 

Still he persisted in his course. As a result the Deputies 
passed a vote of no coniidence, in March, 1830. This angered 
the King and he dissolved the Chamber. But the electors of 
the nation were with the Deputies. In the new Chamber the 
majority against Polignac was stronger than ever. The King 
had therefore received a rebuke, and with characteristic arro- 
gance he determined upon a trial of strength with the people. 
On July 26, 1830, he issued five ordinances of a despotic and 
arbitrary character. He decreed : (1) that the liberty of the 
press should be suspended; (2) that the new Chamber of 
Deputies should be dissolved; (3) that the franchise should 
be restricted to property holders ; (4) that a new Chamber of 
Deputies should be chosen in accordance with this limited 
right of suffrage; (5) that certain of the most extreme Royal- 
ists should be appointed to the new Council of State. 

These ordinances brought on a revolution. The citizens of 
Paris seized arms and barricaded the streets. Charles endeav- 
ored to suppress them by the military; but the troops finally 
fraternized with the insurgents, and his cause became hope- 
less. Polignac fled in disguise. Charles abdicated and made 



PAKT I THE BOURBON RESTORATION 33 

his home in England, where he died in 1836. In resigning 
his throne, Charles had declared his grandson, the Duke of 
Bordeaux, his successor. This youth, who was the son of the 
Duke of Berri, was born September 29, 1820, seven months 
after his father's assassination. As he was the last Bourbon 
prince of the direct line, his claims to the throne were strongly 
championed by the Legitimist nobles. But France was thor- 
oughly tired of the Bourbons. The yonng Duke of Bordeaux 
was at once set aside. The nation would not seriously consider 
him as a royal candidate; and his recognition by the despotic 
Charles X. was certainly nothing in his favor. 

Nor did it seem appropriate that the throne should be offered 
to any one. Monarchy was in bad odor; why not end it? 
Such was the feeling of many; and they seemed to have reason 
on their side. Under her kings France had suffered such 
abuses that the Revolution of 1789, with its horrible excesses, 
was the natural sequence. She had given royalty a second 
trial, and now it had failed a second time, — and failed igno- 
miniously. What could so fittingly spring out of its ruins as 
a republic ? 

But the truth was, democracy had to grow slowly on French 
soil. The nobles were uncompromising adherents of royalty, 
and in many districts they had great influence with the 'peas- 
antry. The masses were not well educated, were unaccus- 
tomed to the franchise, and were obedient to the priests. In 
the cities the working classes were one moment quiet, the next 
explosive, violent, and riotous. The national imagination, 
moreover, is excitable and easily captivated. The French 
eagerly welcome a hero; and not unjustly has Napoleon's in- 
fluence on the mind of the nation been pronounced unwhole- 
some. Ever since his day the multitudes have looked for a 
great captain, who would restore the glorious days of Marengo 
and Austerlitz. 

It is not strange, then, that forty years after the outbreak 
of the Revolution France was not ripe for democratic institu- 
tions. There were those who wished to see a republic estab- 
lished after the abdication of Charles X. To them no form of 
monarchy seemed endurable. But they had to bide their time. 
The sober and thoughtful leaders of the nation were not with 
them. They turned rather to the idea of constitutional mon- 



34 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

archy. Lafayette agreed with them. He had been made com- 
mander of the National Guard during the uprising against 
Charles. His influence, which had long been under a cloud, 
was just now considerable. Theoretically he believed that 
the American Constitution was the only perfect form of gov- 
ernment. But that France was not ready for it he admitted. 
This was the view of the Duke of Orleans, the new candidate 
for the throne. Lafayette called upon him, was pleased with 
his liberal professions, and gave him his support. Thiers, 
Guizot, and other leaders also favored him. He was, there- 
fore, made Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, and afterward 
crowned. 

The Duke of Orleans took the title of Louis Philippe, and 
was known as the "citizen king." He was the son of Philip 
Egalite, who was guillotined in 1793. Born in 1773, he was 
old enough to take part in the Revolution, was a member 
of the Jacobin Club, and fought at Valmy and Jemappes. 
After his father's execution he wandered for many years. 
From 1814 to 1830 he lived in England and France. He was 
vain, insincere, and not over-scrupulous"; but his views were 
liberal, and great things were expected of his reign. The 
charter, securing the people's rights, had been newly revised 
by the Chamber of Deputies and made more liberal. This 
charter he swore to maintain. He also accepted the crown as 
the gift of the people, and adopted the tricolor in place of the 
white flag of the Bourbons. 

His reign therefore began auspiciously. A distinct gain 
upon the absolutism of the Bourbons seemed to have been 
made. The new monarch was limited by the Constitution. 
As "citizen king" he was to rule for the middle class. 
Neither privileged nobles nor red-capped rioters were to dic- 
tate to the government. 

But these favorable expectations were not realized. Many 
adverse conditions existed to make a prosperous reign wellnigh 
impossible. Almost from the beginning the new King encoun- 
tered opposition. A brief review of the course of events from 
1830 to 1848 will show what contributed to his final downfall. 

I. The Government was embarrassed by the parties that 
divided France. Four of them existed: (1) the Legitimists, 
who wished to see the Bourbon line restored; (2) the Constitu- 



LOUIS PHILIPPE 35 



tionalists, wlio believed in a limited constitutional monarchy; 
(3) the Bonapartists, who hoped to see a member of the Bona- 
parte family made emperor; (4) the Republicans, who believed 
that the people should rule. Of these parties the Constitution- 
alists alone gave the King a hearty support, and even they 
became divided and dissentient. The Republicans were vig- 
orous and watchful. It began to seem as if nothing could rob 
them of ultimate success. 

II. The military operations of the reign were successful, 
and yet not wholly creditable. In 1832 an expedition was 
despatched to Mexico. The government of that country had 
offended France ; but it was speedily brought to terms when 
the French fleet bombarded the fort of San Juan of Ulua. In 
three hours the stronghold was in ruins. 

If no great glory was gained by these wars in miniature, at 
least no loss of reputation was incurred. But in the struggle 
with Algeria France made a sorry showing before the world. 
The war had been first undertaken in the preceding reign. 
The Dey of Algiers had insulted a French consul, and, in 
1827, the French attempted to bring him to terms. They 
succeeded, but it took them twenty years to conquer the 
country. The native Kabyles, under a brilliant leader named 
Abd-el-Kader, long defied them. Abd-el-Kader did not know 
defeat. When vanquished, he began the struggle again with 
undiminished courage. The French resented this fierce re- 
sistance. They ruthlessly destroyed buildings, and were 
guilty of many barbarities. But their crowning atrocity was 
the affair of the caves of Dahra. There nearly a thousand 
human beings were pent up and suffocated to death. So great 
was the indignation caused by this inhuman act that Marshal 
Soult, the head of the war department, felt called upon to de- 
nounce it. Even so, the Government hardly escaped censure ; 
and it was severely criticised for its dishonorable treatment 
of Abd-el-Kader. That gallant emir was in the end obliged 
to surrender; and after doing so, in good faith, was rewarded 
with a dungeon. Louis Napoleon, with nicer sense of honor, 
released him. Altogether, the French derived small credit 
and renown from their wars under Louis Philippe. 

III. Formidable insurrections broke out during the reign, 
and a number of attempts were made to assassinate the King. 



36 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

In 1831 there was a serious uprising in Lyons. In 1834 still 
more dangerous riots occurred both in Lyons and in Paris. 
The Government fomented disaffection by suppressing secret 
societies ; and before it quelled the disturbances, much blood 
was shed and terrible atrocities were perpetrated. 

A less troublesome rebellion was occasioned by the Duchess 
of Berri, in 1832. She appealed to the people of La Vendee 
to support the claims of her son. But the uprising was easily 
suppressed, and her own scandalous behavior bereft her of all 
her partisans. 

Three attempts were made upon the King's life in 1835 and 
1836. Four more occurred in 1840 and 1846. 

In 1847 the crops were scant in the central and western dis- 
tricts of France. Food became scarce and riots broke out.^ 
They were of such a threatening character that the army was 
strengthened. But this act did not lessen the growing dis- 
content. 

IV. Political rivalry seriously increased the difficulties of 
the reign. The two ablest statesmen of the time were Guizot 
and Thiers. Unfortunately they did not unite in supporting 
the King as they had united in elevating him to the throne. 
The truth was, each of these eminent personages wished to be 
the foremost man in France, and both could not be. They 
grew jealous of each other, and their enmity became open, 
bitter, and incurable. Thus, the very ones who should have 
made the King secure contributed to bring about his down- 
fall. 

V. Mismanagement of affairs was a fruitful source of sedi- 
tion. The King tried various Prime Ministers, but none of 
them proved highly successful. Thiers was appointed in 1836 
and again in 1840; but his term of office was short on each 
occasion. After his second retirement Guizot came to the 
front. He was first the controlling figure of the government 
under Marshal Soult, and later Prime Minister himself. 
Under his administration matters were tranquil for a while; 
but, as time passed, his policy called forth much hostile criti- 
cism and weakened the throne. He alienated England by 

^ For an account of the economic conditions in France from the Restoration 
to 1848, consult "Histoire du Systeme Protecteur en France," par M. Pierre 
Clement, Chs. VI and VII. 



LOUIS PHILIPPE 37 



favoring the Spanish Marriages.^ He offended the Liberals 
by turning from Lord Palmerston, the Liberal English states- 
man, and lending an ear to reactionists like Metternich. 
And the whole country was disgusted with his conduct of 
domestic affairs. For official corruption was overlooked, the 
elections were manipulated by the Government, fraud and 
intrigue characterized all the business of the State. 

Guizot was personally honest, and he defended himself 
against his critics with splendid eloquence and magnificent 
courage. But by the year 1848 his cause had become hope- 
less, and his downfall involved that of the King. Discontent 
now existed everywhere. The reign was a manifest failure. 
If the people were not tired of constitutional monarchy, they 
were at least tired of Louis Philippe as a constitutional mon- 
arch. He had not shown himself the people's servant. He 
had been self-willed and arbitrary. Moreover, he was held 
responsible, and to some extent justly, for the scandals of 
Guizot's administration. Consequently, in February, 1848, 
the people of Paris rose in rebellion. They were met by force, 
and had force been used promptly and unsparingly, the move- 
ment might possibly have been suppressed. But the King 
hesitated and was lost. On February 24 he abdicated in favor 
of his grandson, the Count of Paris; and, like Charles X., he 
ended his days in England. He died near London in 1850. 

1 The Spanish Marriages, which were brought about in 1846, were the 
result of an intrigue between Maria Christina of Spain (widow of Ferdinand 
VII. who died in 1833) and Louis Philippe. It was at first arranged that both 
of Christina's daughters should be married to sons of Louis Philippe — Isa- 
bella, the elder and the heir to the throne, to the Duke of Aumale, and Luisa, 
the Infanta, to the youngest son, the Duke of Montpensier. Owing to the 
vigorous protests of Lord Palmerston the former part of this arrangement was 
not carried out, and Isabella was married to her cousin, Don Francisco of 
Assisi, Duke of Cadiz, at the same time that Luisa was united to the Duke of 
Montpensier. But Isabella's marriage was still adversely criticised ^ for her 
husband, the Duke of Cadiz, was weak-minded and sickly, and, as Isabella 
was herself frail, the union was said to be planned in order that she might 
die young and childless, and Luisa, wife of the Dnke of Montpensier, might 
become Queen of Spain. In spite of these criticisms Guizot considered the 
Spanish Marriages a diplomatic victory, and boasted to the French Chambers 
that they were the first great success that France had accomplished unaided 
since 1830. 



CHAPTER III 

THE SECOND REPUBLIC. THE SECOND EMPIRE 

Monarchy had been tliorouglily tried in France and had 
failed. Even when limited and constitutional it had not com- 
manded respect and confidence. The Legitimists and the Con- 
stitutionalists were alike out of favor. The Bonapartists had no 
strength. So the time to establish a republic seemed to have 
come. Louis Philippe's choice of a successor was treated with 
no respect. It would have been impossible to make the young 
Count of Paris King. His reign would not have lasted for a day. 

But neither could a republic spring full-fledged from the 
ashes of monarchy. The people were not ready for self-govern- 
ment. They had had little training for it during the preceding 
half-century. Indeed, they had had little to do with govern- 
ment. Since the restoration of monarchy they had held some 
constitutional rights. The kings governed with the aid of a 
chamber of deputies ; but the chamber was not chosen by uni- 
versal suffrage. Nor did the French people in general have a 
voice in appointing their rulers. Not they, but Paris, made 
and unmade governments, though Paris sometimes reflected the 
nation at large. 

It was hardly possible, therefore, to establish a republic as 
it had been established in America in 1789. The United States 
grew out of public opinion. In France there was nothing that 
could fairly be called public opinion. The masses were not 
intelligent enough to think for themselves. Democracy could 
be bestowed upon them and educate them. They themselves 
could not properly be called a democracy. A republican gov- 
ernment had to come as the work of political leaders. It had 
to be hastily and unscientifically erected. It had no sure foun- 
dation in an enlightened popidar intelligence. No wonder, 
then, that it soon fell in ruins. 

38 



PART I THE SECOND REPUBLIC 39 

Lamartine was largely instrumental in bringing the Republic 
into being. After the abdication of Louis Philippe, a provi- 
sional government was formed to secure temporary order, and 
Lamartine was its leading member. He was an eloquent man, 
and he quieted the crowds that were raging through the streets 
of Paris. But to bring about entire tranquillity and to make 
the working classes contented, an extremely unwise step was 
taken. The provisional government established national work- 
shops for the unemployed working men. The shops were im- 
mediately crowded, and many had to be turned away. The 
unsuccessful applicants had to be paid to be kept out of mis- 
chief. Thus the shops were an encouragement to idleness. 
They were established early in 1848. In June the government 
decided that they must be closed. The decision was wise, but 
it caused a fierce and sanguinary outbreak. The working men 
of Paris rushed to arms. The troops suppressed the insurrec- 
tion, but not without terrible loss of life. The slain numbered 
more than a thousand, and among them was the Archbishop of 
Paris, who was killed while speaking to the rioters in the inter- 
ests of peace. Thus the populace of Paris showed, as it has so 
often showed since 1789, that it revels in anarchy and riots. 

Order being established, the provisional government gave 
way to the Republic for which it had provided. A Constituent 
Assembly had been elected by universal suffrage. The next 
thing was to elect a president. By the new Constitution the 
choice lay with the people. All who were of age could vote, 
and they elected Louis Napoleon. 

This remarkable adventurer was the son of Louis Bonaparte, 
King of Holland, and was nephew of the great Napoleon. He 
was born in Paris in 1808. His ambition was unbounded ; his 
genius was for intrigue; his character was shifty and unscru- 
pulous. Already he had more than once attracted the notice of 
the French nation. By an absurd conspiracy he was for two 
brief hours proclaimed emperor at Strasburg in 1836. Again 
in 1840 he raised the standard of insurrection at Boulogne. 
For the first offence he was merely sent to the United States. 
For the second he was sentenced to life imprisonment, and was 
confined in the citadel of Ham. Escaping in 1846 by assuming 
a workman's disguise and walking out of the gate in broad day- 
light with a plank on his shoulder, he made his way to London 



40 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

and there took up his abode. He was waiting and watching 
for an opportunity, for he never lost sight of his main purpose. 
He was determined to be the head of the French nation. In 
1848 his opportunity came. He went to Paris when Louis 
Philippe was dethroned, but was promptly sent out of the 
country. Returning to London he was from there elected a 
member of the National Assembly, and was then made Presi- 
dent. His name gave him unbounded popularity. He received 
5,430,000 votes out of a total of 7,300,000. 

He was now the foremost official in France, but he wished 
for still larger powers. He therefore fell out with the Assem- 
bly and accused it of thwarting his plans for reform. The 
Assembly, on the other hand, suspected him of wishing to over- 
throw the Constitution, and its suspicions proved correct. On 
December 2, 1851, he took the power absolutely into his own 
hands by a coup d'etat. With the army at his back he pro- 
claimed the Assembly dissolved, arrested all civil and military 
officers likely to give him trouble, and overawed the populace. 
His troops fired on an inoffensive crowd. of citizens gathered 
in the streets, and this inhuman act effectually crushed all 
resistance. 

But Napoleon had no thought of posing as a usurper. He 
wished to rest his power on the suffrages of the people. For 
he understood their temper and knew that he could count on 
their support. His term of office was limited to four years. 
The people were invited to make it ten. They consented by a 
vote of seven and a half million against six hundred and fifty 
thousand. He now promulgated a,new Constitution. A Senate 
and a Legislative Body were provided for, but their powers 
were of the slightest. The Republic had really perished in a 
single night. It had not been reared by the people ; it could 
not stand without their support. 

Napoleon was now completely master of the situation. To 
make himself Emperor was not difficult. In 1852 the obsequi- 
ous Senate voted for the restoration of the Empire. The people 
confirmed the decree by another overwhelming vote in the 
intriguer's favor. Out of eight million votes all but a quarter 
of a million were in approval of the Senate's action. Accord- 
ingly, on December 2, 1852, Napoleon III. was proclaimed 
" Emperor of the French by the grace of God and the will of 



PAKT I THE SECOND EMPIRE 41 

the people." The title TsTapoleon II. was given by the Imperial- 
ists to the only son of Napoleon Bonaparte, proclaimed Emperor 
of the French by his father in 1814 and. again after the battle 
of Waterloo. He was but four years old at the time of jSTapo- 
leon's second abdication, and he never came to the throne, as 
he died in Austria in 1832. 

For some ten years Napoleon's reign was a prosperous one. 
He was well aware that he must keep himself strong and pop- 
ular, and he set himself to do it. The French he knew would 
believe in him as long as they were pleased with themselves. 
His policy, therefore, was to make France the most brilliant 
nation in Europe. To this end he sought to give her prosperity 
and splendor at home and reputation abroad. He married a 
beautiful Spanish woman, Eugenie Monti jo. Countess of Teba, 
who captivated the impressionable French mind. By adopting 
England's free trade policy he attempted to make the people 
thriving and contented. He rebuilt Paris at heavy cost and 
made her one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But 
his special appeal for popularity was made through military 
conquest. He was not a soldier. He knew nothing of war. 
Yet he hoped to repeat the victories of his uncle, Napoleon I. 
All the more necessary was it that he should win military glory 
for France, for before he became Emperor he had engaged the 
country in an undertaking disapproved by liberal Frenchmen. 
In 1849 he had sent troops to Rome to suppress the Republican 
patriots and to bring the States of the Church again under 
papal control. By this act he secured the favor of the Church 
of Rome ; but the Republicans, both in France and Italy, looked 
on him with suspicion. 

He wished, therefore, to embark upon some serious military 
enterprise. He had, it is true, announced that " the Empire 
meant peace." But to his unscrupulous mind the Empire 
meant anything that would contribute to his own security in 
power. War, he was satisfied, would give him popularity; 
accordingly he looked around for an antagonist. He selected 
Russia, and in 1854 he brought on the Crimean War. 

That he was solely responsible for its outbreak can by no 
means be asserted. The course of European diplomacy is tor- 
tuous, and many causes work beneath the surface to produce 
the great events of European history. The Crimean War seems 



42 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

to have been due to several causes. Russia coveted Constanti- 
nople, and was menacing Turkey. The English hated Russia 
and upheld the Turk. The Emperor Nicholas was headstrong, 
capricious, and unable to pursue a settled policy. Napoleon 
stood ready to set the English against the Russians, and the 
Russians against the English. Altogether, war seemed a natu- 
ral outcome from the strained situation of affairs. But that it 
would ever have come about without Napoleon's interference 
is, to say the least, very doubtful.^ 

England and France sent an army of sixty thousand men to 
the Crimea. The French troops were more numerous and 
better equipped. The English took a more conspicuous part 
in the fighting. The Russians proved to be no match for their 
antagonists. Sebastopol was taken. Russia was humiliated 
and obliged to forfeit control of the Black Sea. The Turk was 
sustained in his career of brutality and corruption. All this 
Napoleon accomplished, and he stood before Europe as the 
head of a strong and brilliant military power. Yet he was 
tired of the war before it was ended. Though he drew Eng- 
land into it, he was more ready to make peace than she.^ 

His next struggle was with Austria. That he was wholly 
responsible for this war is certain. He deliberately picked a 
quarrel with Austria and attacked her in Italy. All of North 
Italy except Piedmont was under Austrian control. To regain 
the favor of the Italians, Napoleon undertook to obtain these 
northern provinces for King Victor Emmanuel. Through good 
fortune and the gallantry of his troops he won the important 
battles of Magenta and Solferino. But to the intense indigna- 
tion of the Italians, he would not follow up his success. He 
secured Lombardy for them. Venice still remained in Aus- 
tria's grasp. 

His position was now a strong one. France was great, and 
she owed her greatness to Napoleon. But soon his fortunes 
waned. In 1862 he engaged in a foolish war with Mexico and 
withdrew from it dishonored. When Prussia warred with 
Denmark, in 1864, Napoleon suffered loss of prestige by the 

1 To understand the causes that brought on the war read S. Lane Poole's 
"Life of Stratford-Canning," IL Chs. XXIV-XXVII. 

2 France indeed acted in bad faith and began to make terms, when the Eng- 
lish would have continued the war and wrested larger concessions from 
Russia. " Life of Stratford-Canning," II. 436. 



PART I THE SECOND EMPIRE 43 

course of action he pursued. Nor was he any more successful 
iu the war between Austria and Prussia, in 1866. Once more 
he attempted the part of judge and arbiter, only to be set 
aside. 

These diplomatic failures discredited him Avith the country. 
France had been growing strong, wealthy, and prosperous. 
As her own power increased, she suspected that of the Em- 
peror. He had dazzled and blinded the people, but they were 
beginning to see through him. He was not a great soldier nor 
a great ruler. When the year 1870 came round, it found him 
suffering from disease, despondent, and uneasy. Military 
success would, he believed, restore his popularity; yet he 
shrank from engaging in war. But a strong war party urged 
him on. It was jealous of Prussia and confident that France 
could crush her. So a pretext for a quarrel was easily found. 
Spain had invited Prince Leopold of Sigmaringen to be its 
king; but the Prince was a Hohenzollern and a relative of 
King William of Prussia. His candidacy was therefore treated 
as a menace to France, and King William was requested to force 
the Prince to reject the Spanish overtures. By declining him- 
self, the Prince relieved the King of Prussia from an embar- 
rassing position. The candidacy was ended, but France was 
not satisfied. She demanded a promise from William that it 
should never be renewed. This the King could not give with 
self-respect. Napoleon had asked too much, and, somewhat 
to his own dismay, he found that he had launched France into 
a war. But the Due de Gramont, War Minister and head of 
the war party, was elated.^ He had no idea of Prussia's 
strength nor of France's weakness. For both he and Napoleon 
had been grossly deceived as to the efficiency of the French 
armies. For four years France had been preparing for war, 
but without thoroughness or system. She had, indeed, in the 
Chassepot an excellent rifle, far superior to the Prussian 
needle-gun; and much was expected from the mitrailleuse, 
with its rapid fire. But the vast stores of ammunition and 

1 The Empress Eugenie shared the Due de Gramont 's exultation, and to her 
quite as much as to any one the origin of the war was to be traced. For at the 
final meeting of the Emperor and his advisers, when war was decided upon, it 
was the Empress who insisted that France had gone too far to recede, and that 
war alone could save her honor. " Memoirs of an Ex-Minister," by the Right 
Honorable the Earl of Malmesbury, p. (i65. 



44 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

supplies that had been accumulated were not easily accessible. 
No arrangements for rapid transit had been made. The 
French forces were greatly outnumbered by the German, and 
France had no general of first-rate genius like Von Moltke. 

The struggle, therefore, was not protracted, nor was its issue 
long in doubt. Napoleon attempted an offensive campaign 
when he was poorly prepared to act on the defensive. He 
crossed the frontier and gained a trifling success at the heights 
of Saarbriicken on Augvist 2. Then began a series of disasters. 
The Prussians drove the French back across the frontier. On 
August 6 they defeated Marshal MacMahon in the bloody 
battle of Worth. Marshal Bazaine was routed at Gravelotte 
on August 18, and was then besieged in Metz, And on Sep- 
tember 2, but one month after the initial action at Saarbriicken, 
Napoleon, with ninety thousand men, was forced to surrender 
at Sedan. 

The news of this disaster caused consternation at Paris. 
The "Government of National Defence" was at once estab- 
lished. Napoleon was declared dethroned. Sick, weary, and 
humiliated, he repaired to England, where he lived quietly for 
the brief remainder of his life. He died at Chiselhurst, near 
London, in January, 1873. 

Thus ended the Second Empire. Like the First Empire, it 
had thrived on military glory and had collapsed under military 
disaster. But, unlike the First Empire, it had mediocrity 
instead of genius at its head. Napoleon III. was a student 
rather than a statesman. Never feeling secure upon the 
throne, he maintained a despicable system of espionage, and 
blinded the people with military success instead of educating 
them in political principles. Not, indeed, that he was with- 
out merits as a ruler. He strengthened the French navy; 
extended railroads and telegraphs ; improved the processes of 
law; abolished preventive imprisonment and arrest for debt; 
shortened military service; and encouraged free trade and 
commercial enterprise.^ His reign, therefore, even though it 
more than doubled the national debt, was marked by material 
prosperity and by some wise measures of reform. But his 

^ That Napoleon was really interested in carrying out reforms is shown in 
Malmesbury's " Memoirs," p. 562, where a valuable picture of the Emperor's 
strength and weaknesses is given. 



PART I THE SECOND EMPIRE 45 

character was so unprincipled, his rise to power so shameless, 
and his political system so vicious, that France has little 
reason to honor his memory,^ 

1 De la Gorce, in the preface to his " Histoire du Second Empire," describes 
Napoleon's reign very aptly as "a la fois brillant et nefaste, superficiel et 
tragique." 



CHAPTER lY 

THE THIRD REPUBLIC 

The Prussians were quick to follow up the signal victory of _ 
Sedan. They passed on to Paris, leaving Bazaine securely 
invested at Metz. Their progress was unresisted, for the 
French no longer had any armies to bring against them. 
Nearly one hundred thousand men had been captured at Sedan. 
Another hundred thousand were shut up in Metz. But the 
Government of the National Defence was full of energy. 
Thiers, Jules Favre, Jules Simon, and Gambetta were its 
leading members; and they were among the ablest men in 
France. They used every effort to put new armies in the field, 
Gambetta being particularly active in this direction. But 
their attempts were unavailing. Bazaine surrendered Metz 
and his entire army after a short siege. The French recruits 
were no match for Prussia's disciplined battalions. So Paris, 
in spite of a brave resistance, could not be saved. The siege 
of the city began on September 19, 1870; on January 28, 
1871, an armistice was agreed upon and resistance ceased. 
France, which had entered into the war with so much elation, 
was utterly humiliated. Her capital was at the mercy of 
foreign soldiers. 

But peace, to be lasting, must be securely ratified. On Feb- 
ruary 8 elections were held to choose a National Assembly. 
The deputies met at Bordeaux and established a republican 
government to sit at Versailles, with M. Grevy as President, 
and Thiers as chief of the executive department. A few were 
in favor of continuing the war, but the vast majority followed 
the advice of Thiers, and accepted the terms which Germany 
offered. For, in December, King William of Prussia had 
been proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles. Thus the 
war which had prostrated France had created a new empire; 

46 



PART I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 47 

and the vanquished nation had now to deal with the great 
power which had sprung out of its own weakness. Not Prus- 
sia, but Germany, dictated terms to France. 

And those terms were hard and humiliating. France was to 
cede Alsace and Lorraine to Germany and pay an indemnity 
of a billion dollars. Thiers had wrested Belfort from the iron 
grasp of Bismarck, but that was all he could do. But resist- 
ance was absolutely useless. The Assembly agreed to these 
terms. On May 10 the Treaty of Frankfort, which embodied 
them, was signed, and the war was over. The Germans with- 
drew from France, after leaving a sufficient force to insure the 
payment of the indemnity. 

Thus the newly established Government was free to attend 
to domestic affairs; and they sorely needed attention. Paris 
was undergoing a second siege. Its inflammable workingmen 
had shown the same love of riot and destruction they had dis- 
played in the Revolution of 1789 and in many succeeding 
outbreaks. In March, long before peace was signed, the Com- 
mune had rebelled against the Versailles Government. So 
supine were the authorities and so active were the insurgents 
that Paris was soon in the full possession of a desperate horde 
of incendiaries. Marshal MacMahon was instructed to recap- 
ture it; and this he found no easy task. The siege began on 
April 2, and was not ended till May 21. The Government 
troops and the insurgents fought hand to hand in the streets. 
Inch by inch the city had to be wrested from the hands of the 
Commune. And finally, as their cause became desperate, the 
rioters gave free play to their mad passions and acted like 
destroying demons. They fired buildings with petroleum and 
shot down inoffensive prisoners. Among the victims of this 
wanton butchery were the venerable Archbishop of Paris and 
a number of priests. But at last the scarred and disfigured 
city was restored to the keeping of the nation. 

These sanguinary occurrences were unfortunate. They did 
not help the Republic, and its strength was none too great. 
Its character was temporary and provisional; for it had been 
created to meet a national emergency. The nation had yet to 
decide what permanent form of government it would build on 
the ruins of the Second Empire; and that decision could not 
be reached without the contention of parties. For the Repub- 



48 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

licans did not command a majority in the Chamber of Deputies. 
The Monarchists had been returned in great numbers; for 
when the elections were held the people looked less to remote 
political contingencies than to the immediate settlement of the 
war. Hence, many Monarchists and Imperialists were chosen, 
partly because they stood for peace, and partly because in 
large portions of France they had great influence with the 
peasantry. In the Assembly, therefore, the enemies of the 
Republic outnumbered its friends. But the Republicans were 
strong and enthusiastic, and they had the logic of events on 
their side. For neither monarchy nor empire had been able 
to stand since 1789. Moreover, they had the powerful support 
of Thiers, whose heroic exertions in establishing peace had 
given him almost unbounded influence. He was hardly a 
Republican, indeed, but rather a Constitutionalist. Like a 
number of others in the Assembly, he was not averse to any 
form of government that was based upon a liberal Constitution. 
Indeed, the Monarchists counted him among their following, 
and eventually charged him with deserting their cause through 
presidential ambition. That the charge was absolutely with- 
out foundation it is difficult to say ; for Thiers was certainly 
ambitious and fond of power. But there is ample evidence 
that he honestly considered the Republic the only suitable 
form of government for France at this particular time. He 
realized that it was demanded by the sentiment of the nation, 
and that a monarchy, even if established, would be unstable.^ 

1 The charge of disloyalty to the monarchical party is brought by Count 
Falloux in his " Memoirs," which fairly reflect the views of the better portion of 
the Royalists. But the charge is not well sustained and is directly contra- 
dicted by the opinions which Thiers more than once expressed earnestly and 
emphatically before the Chamber of Deputies. He does not, indeed, declare 
himself a convert to Republican principles, and in one of his speeches (" Dis- 
cours Parlementaires de M. Thiers,"' VII. 101) he pictures the dangers of 
democracy in a striking passage, beginning, " Les gouvernements libres ont 
aussi leurs miseres." But in his message of November 1.3, 1872, he says that 
the Republic exists and that to try for anything else would be a new revolu- 
tion, " et la plus redoutable de toutes " (" Discours," XV. 27). And in his 
speech on May 24, 187.3, in which he defends the course that had been followed 
during the two preceding years, he states that the reason why he, an old par- 
tisan of the Monarchy, had supported the Republic, was that the Monarchy 
was absolutely impossible ("Discours," XV. 206). A little below (XV. 207) 
he ^ves the reason why it is impossible in the quaint phrase, "II n'y a que 
un trone, et I'ou ne peut I'occuper a trois." 



PART I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 49 

Accordingly, as head of the Republic, Thiers did all he 
could to strengthen it. He had really been its chief executive 
ever since it was established ; and on August 30, 1871, he was 
made its formal President. Though now seventy-four years 
old, he had the energy and fire of youth ; and he discharged 
the tasks that confronted him with astonishing vigor. He 
reorganized the army, reformed the civil service, and paid off 
the vast war indemnity with unexpected rapidity.' And this 
last achievement won him the especial gratitude of the nation; 
for, by the terms of the Treaty of Frankfort, a German army 
was to be quartered on French soil, at the expense of the 
French people, until the debt to Germany was paid in full. 

But, in spite of his vigorous handling of affairs, Thiers en- 
countered an ever increasing opposition in the Assembly, The 
Monarchists were offended with him because he would not pro- 
mote their reactionary schemes, and many disliked his policy 
of protection. For he had undone all that Napoleon III. had 
accomplished in the direction of free trade. Several times he 
resigned, only to hud that his resignation was not accepted, 
even his enemies admitting that his strong hand was still 
needed at the nation's helm. But, finally, on May 24, 1873, 
the opposition succeeded in passing a resolution of censure 
against him by a vote of 360 to 341. His resignation was now 
accepted, and the Monarchists had their opportunity. No 
doubt the nation was Republican at heart; but, recovering as 
it was from an exhausting war, it was hardly ready to quarrel 
for Republican principles. Therefore, as the Monarchists had 
a majority in the Assembly, they only needed to act together 
to make their cause successful. But it was exactly this co- 
operation that they found difficult. There were three distinct 
factions among the enemies of the Republic, the Legitimists, 
the Orleanists, and the Imperialists. These factions now 
endeavored to fuse, and to overturn the Republic. But they 
could not unite with any heart, for they did not share the 
same central convictions. Each of the three wished to elevate 
its own candidate to the throne, and each was able to give but 
a grudging allegiance to the head of one of the other factions. 
The Imperialists, however, were weak in numbers in the As- 
sembly; so they acted with the Royalists out of sheer hostility 
to the Republic. The Orleanists gave way to the Legitimists, 



50 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

as the latter seemed best to represent the monarchical tra- 
dition. Accordingly, a "fusion" was brought about, though 
an imperfect one. It was strong to pull down rather than to 
build up. 

But, imperfect as the fusion was, it proceeded with its plan 
of overturning the Republic. Immediately after Thiers's 
resignation it elected Marshal MacMahon to the presidency, 
believing that he would help on its reactionary designs. The 
next thing in order was to bring forward the Count of Cham- 
bord,^ the head of the Legitimists, as the one man who could 
save France from disorder. Accordingly, on August 5, 1873, 
the Count of Paris, grandson of Louis Philippe and head of 
the Orleanists, visited him in his castle at Frohsdorf, in Aus- 
tria, and tendered him his allegiance. But it presently seemed 
as if the Couat of Chambord should rather have recognized the 
leadership of the Count of Paris. For the latter was a liberal, 
scholarly, and progressive man ; while the Count of Chambord, 
though not without scholarly tastes, was as narrow and bigoted 
as any Bourbon had ever been before him. With the situation 
almost wholly within his control, he ruined his chances of 
reigning by his immovable obstinacy. He had already dis- 
mayed his supporters by announcing that if he accepted the 
throne the tricolor must give place to the white flag of the 
Bourbons — a proposition so offensive to the French nation 
that the hope of the Monarchists lay in persuading their leader 
to modify his views. But this he refused to do. In a letter 
dated October 27, he said, "I retract nothing, and I curtail 
none of my former statements." So the Royalist cause col- 
lapsed. It was impossible to elevate the intolerant Count of 
Chambord to the throne. It was equally impossible to elevate 
the Count of Paris, since he had recognized the superior 
claims of the Bourbon line. And the death of Napoleon III., 
on January 9, 1873, had excited so little comment that the 
Bonapartists recognized the futility of pressing their own 
cause at this juncture. 

Accordingly, the Republic lived on, though as yet it was 
hardly more than a Republic iu name. It had but one Legis- 
lative Chamber, and it did not rest upon a constitutional basis. 

1 Grandson of Charles X., and known also as the Duke of Bordeaux. See 
p. 33. 



PART I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 51 

It therefore needed wise legislation to give it stability. And 
it needed, above all things, an opportunity of showing itself 
equal to a wise and vigorous conduct of affairs. Only by exist- 
ing for a number of years could it confound the arguments of 
its enemies. The Monarchists and Imperialists claimed that 
it should be set aside because it was too weak to stand and to 
suppress disorder. But if it should succeed in standing year 
after year, it would vindicate its right to the support of the 
whole French nation. 

It was highly important, then, what was to be the attitude 
of Thiers's successor toward the existing Government. Mac- 
Malion had been chosen by the Royalists to help them in 
destroying the Republic. Fortunately, however, he disap- 
pointed their expectations. Resolute, honest, incapable of 
betraying his trust, he at once declared himself on the side of 
established authority. In a message to the Assembly, he said, 
unequivocally, " I shall be a vigorous and resolute conserva- 
tive. ... I shall impress unity, stability, and the spirit 
of order upon the administration." In accordance with this 
declaration, he had the Vendome column, pulled down by the 
Commune, restored; caused diplomatic representatives of 
France to be sent to the courts of Germany, Russia, and Aus- 
tria ; secured the last payment of the indemnity, on Septem- 
ber 5; and set about strengthening and improving the army. 

These measures he followed up by demanding of the Assem- 
bly that it give the existing Government the needed stability 
and authority. For he found difficulty in making his admin- 
istration thoroughly respected. The press criticised it unspar- 
ingly; the municipalities were inclined to resist the central 
authority. MacMahon's term of office was fixed therefore at 
seven years, a proposition to make it ten years meeting with 
opposition. On November 19 the Assembly voted to establish 
a commission of thirty to formulate a Constitution. Strength- 
ened by this decree, the President stated publicly, in Febru- 
ary, 1874, that "he should make law and order respected 
throughout the seven years of his office." All propositions to 
reestablish the monarchy he resolutely frowned upon, thus 
making it more than ever certain that the Count of Chambord 
would never receive the coveted title of Henry V. The Royal- 
ists showed their disappointment by opposing the Govern- 



62 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

merit's measures. But, in spite of their hostility, the work of 
streugthening tlie Republic went on. MacMahon recommended 
the creation of a Senate, that there might be two Legislative 
Chambers; and this proposition, after some fierce opposition, 
was tinally adopted. It was voted, on February 24, to create 
a Senate of 300 members, 225 of them to be elected by the 
departments and 75 by the Assembly. And on the following 
day, the Republic was formally established by a vote of 425 to 
254, and became the legal Government of France. 

This vote was secured by a union of the Republicans with 
the more liberal Monarchists, and was thus an additional blow 
to Royalist hopes. The Republic was now, seemingly, secure. 
It had powerful champions in Thiers and Gambetta. It gained 
constantly in the by-elections, which usually resulted in 
sending the Republican candidate to the Assembly. And, 
linally, when the Assembly was dissolved and a new one was 
chosen, in February, 187G, the Republican members clearly 
outnumbered the Legitimists, the Orleanists, and the Impe- 
rialists combined. Even in the Senate the reactionists had 
but a very small majority. For the Assembly had, in the 
previous December, chosen fifty-two Republicans out of the 
seventy-five senators it had to elect; and many of the senators 
chosen by the Departments were moderate Republicans also. 

And fortunate it was that the Republic was gaining strength; 
for it had now to engage in a battle royal with the President 
himself. MacMahon had the soldier's respect for established 
authority; and in assuming office he had at once pronounced 
himself the champion of order. The Republic had been estab- 
lished by the nation's representatives. Therefore, to his 
straightforward mind, it Avas entitled to the support of every 
loyal Frenchman. But if he had the soldier's regard for 
authority, he had the general's habit of command. As head 
of the nation, he claimed the right of dictating its policy. The 
will of the people, as expressed by the Republican majority in 
the Assembly, he was slow to recognize. He therefore insisted 
from the first in appointing reactionist Ministers, who did not 
fairly represent the nation. For his views were not liberal, 
and his personal affiliations were rather with the Roj'^alists and 
Imperialists, even though he would not support the monarchi- 
cal cause. In choosing his Ministers he was always inclined to 



PAET I THE TIIIKD REPUBLIC 53 

ignore the Republicans and to select men of a very conservative 
type. Moreover, he sometimes tried to control the national elec- 
tions, in defiance of the spirit of democracy. Hence, his dictato- 
rial ways brought him into inevitable conflict with the nation. 
His first Prime Minister was the Due de Broglie, a Mon- 
archist, though a very liberal one. After him came De Cissey, 
and later M. Buffet, both of whom were stanch Conservatives. 
In February, 1876, Buffet had resigned, being confronted by a 
hostile majority in the Assembly, and had been succeeded by 
M. Dufaure. Dufaure was a Liberal, and so was Jules Simon, 
who replaced him in December. But neither of these men 
was pleasing to MacMahon, for their views were too broad and 
progressive for his narrow mind. So, in May, 1877, he caused 
Jules Simon to resign by sending him a censorious letter, and 
reappointed his favorite, the Due de Broglie. This arbitrary 
conduct made him unpopular; and, hading himself losing 
ground, he dissolved the Assembly, in 1877. But he soon saw 
that the task of controlling the suffrages of the French nation 
was beyond liis powers. The people seemed to be growing 
in their appreciation of Republican principles. Gambetta's 
speeches filled them with enthusiasm ; and the death of Thiers, 
on September 3, increased their devotion to the cause to which 
he had given his closing years. It was all in vain, therefore, 
that MacMahon opposed the Republican movement. He ap- 
pealed to the army to save France; he issued a manifesto 
declaring that he could not become the " tool of radicalism " ; 
and he interfered with the freedom of the ballot. But when 
the elections were held, on October 14, the Government re- 
ceived a severe rebuke. There were elected 325 Republicans 
against 112 Bonapartists and 96 Monarchists. MacMahon was 
obliged to bow to the will of the people. Reluctantly he let 
his reactionary ministry go and formed a new one that em- 
bodied the liberal views of the legislative majority. On 
December 13, M. Dufaure was again called upon to form a 
Cabinet; and on the following day MacMahon issued a message 
to the Chambers, in which he expressed his entire acceptance 
of the results of the election. "The interest of the country," 
he declares, " demands that the crisis we are passing through 
should be ended. It demands, with no less for<ce, that the 
crisis be not renewed." And he goes on to say that "the con- 



54 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

cord established between the Senate and the Chamber of Depu- 
ties will permit the accomplishment of the important legislative 
measures which the public interest craves." 

The Cabinet chosen by M. Dufaure was thoroughly Repub- 
lican, and its conduct of affairs soon put the Republic upon a 
firmer footing. MacMahon no longer tried to control the 
policy of the administration. Reactionary prefects, who had 
used their influence against the existing Constitution, were 
removed. The press was freed from restrictions. Clerical 
control of education was resisted. Officials who obstructed the 
liberal policy of the Government were dismissed. And even 
in the Senate the power of the reactionists was broken. By 
the requirements of the Constitution seventy-five senators 
retired at the end of every three years and new ones were 
chosen in their places. On January 5, 1879, new elections 
were held, and out of seventy-five seats the Republicans 
secured all but sixteen. This victory gave them a majority 
in the Senate as well as in the Assembly. 

The reactionists did not, indeed, cease to scheme against the 
Government. On November 13, 1878, the Legitimists, the 
Orleanists, and the Imperialists united in a manifesto regard- 
ing the way in which the senatorial elections were conducted. 
And on the twenty-fifth of the same month a letter from the 
Count of Chambord was published, in which he asserted his 
rights as strongly as ever. But such utterances merely served 
to show that the enemies of the Republic had not given up 
hope. They excited little interest, and had no visible effect. 
Every year the Royalists and Bonapartists seemed less likely 
to realize their ambitions. Their claim had always been that 
a republic could not maintain itself in France. That a republic 
had now maintained itself for nearly a decade proved that the 
claim was false. It had taken only six years for monarchy, 
under Charles X., to bring on a revolution. So, when the 
Count of Chambord proclaimed, in 1879, " With the cooperation 
of all honest men, and the grace of God, I may save France, 
and will," he only made himself and his cause absurd. France 
was on the way of progress ; and so far as she needed salvation 
she could not find it from a bigoted and intolerant Bourbon. 
She had tried that method of salvation, and it had brought her 
the excesses of 1789. 



PAET I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 55 

MacMahon had reconciled himself to a Republican adminis- 
tration, but he did not enjoy it. He saw his own arrange- 
ments one after another set aside. Finally, when it was 
proposed to remove his old military associates from their com- 
mands, he determined to lay down his office. For he had 
served with these men under the Empire; and his honor as a 
soldier bade him stand or fall with them. On January 30 he 
sent in a resignation couched in dignified language, and casting 
no aspersions upon his Ministers. 

President MacMahon was not a Republican, but none the 
less he had done the Republic good service. The popular idea 
regarding his civic career does him scant justice. For the 
facts especially remembered in connection with him are, that 
he was elected by the Royalists, that he forced reactionist 
ministries upon the nation, interfered with the freedom of 
elections, and sustained his old military associates against the 
national will as expressed by the administration. But it is 
not to be forgotten that he would not betray the Republic into 
the hands of the Monarchists, and that he never refused to 
accept the verdict of the people when it had made itself clearly 
manifest. In trying to control elections he made a grievous 
mistake, and showed that he understood very imperfectly the 
nature of popular government. But, in resisting the nation's 
voice until it became imperative, he acted as the Duke of 
Wellington did in opposing liberal legislation. Wellington 
resisted progress until he saw that resistance meant revolu- 
tion; but at that point he gave way. He therefore stands as 
an admirable type of the conservative statesman, who checks 
legislation without thwarting it. MacMahon cannot be com- 
pared with him in statesmanlike grasp. He lacked the 
political sagacity which Wellington got from his Anglo-Saxon 
blood and traditions. But in making the French people assert 
their will, and in bowing to that will, however reluctantly, he 
had done democracy a service. He had shown the proper 
limits of conservative opposition. 

On the same day that MacMahon tendered his resignation 
the Senate and the Assembly met, for the first time in joint 
session, to elect a president in accordance with the provisions 
of the Constitution; and they chose M. Jules Grevy by an 
overwhelming majority. The new President was a moderate 



56 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

Republican, a man now seventy-two years old, who had long 
commanded the confidence of the nation by his discretion and 
his integrity. Under him the country felt eminently safe. A 
period of progress and quiet was inaugurated by his firm and 
dignified conduct of affairs. 

At the same time some burning questions had to be settled, 
and dangers which did not lessen as time went on had to be 
faced. The Communists, many of whom had been condemned 
to exile and imprisonment during MacMahon's presidency, 
clamored for a full pardon for political offences. The Broglie 
ministry had clung to power in defiance of the Constitution, 
and some Republicans demanded that it be impeached. And 
public instruction was to be taken out of the hands of the 
priests. 

These questions were settled, not without some difficulty. 
A bill practically granting full amnesty was finally passed, in 
1880, after encountering some opposition in the Senate. De 
Broglie and his colleagues were not impeached, but a resolu- 
tion declaring that they had betrayed the Republic was passed 
in the Assembly and placarded in every commune in the 
nation. No doubt De Broglie had violated the spirit of the 
Constitution; but to condemn him without a trial seemed a 
travesty of justice, especially considering that almost every 
government for a hundred years had resorted to more or less 
high-handed measures. But if this arbitrary action of the 
Assembly called forth some indignant protests, it did not ex- 
cite the commotion that was caused in settling the educational 
question. The Government in trying to control the priests was 
drawn into a conflict with the Church. The Jesuits in par- 
ticular resisted the attempt to interfere with their methods, 
for they owned a considerable number of educational institu- 
tions. But the warfare once engaged in was vigorously carried 
on; and, finally, the institutions of the Jesuits were closed. 

In this crusade against the priests, and in the matter of the 
amnesty, a potent and commanding influence had been exer- 
cised by Leon Gambetta. Ever since the establishment of the 
Republic, in 1871, this brilliant man had been growing in 
power. It was he who had offered the most energetic and 
audacious resistance to MacMahon's arbitrary policy. Indeed, 
he had not hesitated to denounce the President in language so 



PART I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 57 

pointed that the Government twice sentenced him to fine and 
imprisonment. Yet it refrained from carrying out its own 
sentence, for it did not dare to order his arrest. With the 
populace Gambetta's influence was unbounded. He had a 
commanding presence and was gifted with a fiery eloquence 
which thrilled and delighted the excitable Celtic mind. His 
opinions, moreover, made him popular; for he was a radical, 
though not an extremist. He had therefore attained to an 
almost dictatorial position in the early years of Grevy's ad- 
ministration. He had the power to make and unmake minis- 
ters; but for a time he preferred to exercise this power behind 
the scenes, and to remain an ordinary member of the Assem- 
bly rather than to discharge the functions of office. But his 
ascendency finally made his acceptance of office unavoidable. 
He was made President of the Chamber of Deputies in 1879; 
in 1881 he became Prime Minister, and served in that position 
till he was defeated in the Assembly in 1882. But his brill- 
iant career was suddenly cut short. He died in Paris in 
December, 1882, at the age of forty-four. He had been a tower 
of strength to the Kepublic, and his loss was deeply mourned. 
Yet he was rather a politician than a statesman; and his death 
hardly altered the course of national affairs. 

None the less France sorely needed every able and loyal 
servant she could command. Por all was not well with the 
Republic. Its stability was menaced by various adverse con- 
ditions. True, it had been strengthened by its confiict with 
MacMahon; it seemingly had a prosperous career under 
Grevy's administration. For the nation was growing in 
wealth and power. The international exposition at Paris, in 
1878, had made this apparent. Yet dangers existed; and some 
of them seemed to become more formidable as the years passed 
by. The following were the graver features of the situation : 

I. The financial condition of the nation was far from sat- 
isfactory. The debt was alarmingly great and the revenue 
insufficient. The cost of the Franco-Prussian War had been 
enormous, for the expense of conducting it had been very 
heavy apart from the indemnity of a billion dollars paid to 
Germany. But the truth was, the debt had been growing 
through the entire century. Neither monarchy nor empire 
had administered the national finances with discretion. In- 



58 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

come had fallen below expenditure, and the deficiency had 
been made good by loans. Hence, the debt was very large 
before the War of 1870; and when the indemnity had been 
paid to Germany, it had risen to more than six billion dollars. 
But so large a debt involved the need of an enormous revenue ; 
for the annual interest on loans was in itself a heavy item of 
expenditure. And this revenue the Government found itself 
unable to provide. Every year it had to raise more than six 
hundred million dollars; and every year it resorted to addi- 
tional loans in order to meet its expenses. So the Republic 
was pursuing the same fatuous financial policj^ that had charac- 
terized preceding governments. True, the deficit was not large, 
and by skilful manipulation of figures it was sometimes en- 
tirely concealed. Moreover, the nation was growing in wealth, 
and its accumulated capital was many times larger than its in- 
debtedness, National bankruptcy, therefore, was not impend- 
ing. That the nation would sometime repudiate its debts no one 
could believe. Yet the annual failure to make income meet ex- 
penditure was an unfortunate, not to say a menacing situation. 
II. The Republic was not supported by a dominant and un- 
divided party in the Assembly. The Royalists and Bonapart- 
ists were hostile ; the Republicans were divided into factions. 
The latter were largely in the majority in the Chamber of 
Deputies. Whenever they united to help the Government, 
they were able to carry any measure that they pleased. But 
they represented men of diverse and almost contradictory 
opinions. There were Conservatives, Moderates, Radicals, 
Extremists, and Anarchists; and some of these factions were 
thoroughly hostile to each other. The Conservatives were 
rather inclined to accept the Republic on trial than to believe 
in it heartily. Like Thiers, whom they followed while he 
lived, they believed that progress should be made slowly and 
cautiously, and that sweeping and radical measures of reform 
should not be countenanced. The Moderates, or Opportunists, 
as they were termed, had been followers of Gambetta, and 
represented opinions which were liberal without being extreme. 
More thoroughly devoted to the Republican idea than the Con- 
servatives, they were not in full sympathy with the Radicals, 
who were eager for immediate and fundamental changes. The 
election of the chief magistrate of the nation by popular bal- 



PART I THE THIKD REPUBLIC 59 

lot, and the immediate separation of Church and State, were 
the two most prominent features of the radical programme. 
The Extremists and the Communists were not numerically im- 
portant, but they tried to make up for their weakness by noise 
and turbulence. Some of them were Anai-chists of the most 
pronounced type, who delighted in revolution and destruction. 

The nobility of France was bitterly opposed to the Eepublic 
and stood ready to take advantage of any opportunity to 
destroy it. Some of its members were Monarchists, some 
were Imperialists; nearly all were convinced that Republican 
principles were dangerous. The Imperialists suffered some 
loss of prestige when the Prince Imperial, the only son of 
Napoleon III., was killed in South Africa, in 1879. After 
his death most of his party adopted, as their head. Prince 
Napoleon, son of Jerome Napoleon and nephew of the great 
Emperor. But a few attached themselves to his son, Prince 
Victor. The Monarchists, who were more numerous and more 
influential than the Imperialists, looked to the Count of Paris 
as their head after the death of the Count of Chambord, in 
1883. They were not active and aggressive, but they had by 
no means given up the hope of reestablishing the monarchy. 
Not over-scrupulous, they were ready to use any political 
adventurer as a tool for overturning the Government and 
crowning the royal candidate. And if they did not openly 
assail the Republic, they absolutely refused to support or 
encourage it. It was a fixed principle with them and the 
Bonapartists to stand aloof from the Government and to accept 
no office under it. So firmly was this code adhered to that 
disobedience to it involved loss of caste. For many years, 
therefore, the younger members of the aristocracy did not dare 
to give the Republic a loyal support, even if they were imbued 
with liberal principles, as was sometimes the case. 

Altogether the warfare of factions was disturbing, and stood 
in the way of settled policy and steady progress.^ 

1 Time has rather intensified than diminished this factional warfare. The 
Revue Politique et Parlementaire, 10 Aout, 1899, contains an article entitled 
"De la Dissociation et de la Concentration des Parties Politiques," in which 
the disintegration of parties is admitted and deplored, and a peculiar remedy 
is suggested. For the author recommends that no party should govern the 
country, however large its majority, but that every party should have a shan; 
in the government in proportion to its strength among the constituencies. A 
thoroughly French view of politics. 



60 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

III. The spirit of chauvinism was leading the whole nation 
astray. The French are fond of military glory. They cannot 
forget defeat and humiliation. The reverses of the Franco- 
Prussian War had wounded the national pride almost beyond 
endurance. A long line of past victories seemed to demand 
that the disgrace of Sedan be wiped out. To win back Alsace 
and Lorraine had become the deep and passionate desire of 
the whole French people. To this end they were willing to 
undergo any sacrifice and to put forth every exertion. The 
national honor must be vindicated at any cost. Hence, the 
army was reorganized, military training was made rigid, and 
universal; the whole country seemed, to echo with warlike 
preparation and high-sounding military sentiment. To this 
spirit the term " chauvinism " has been aptly applied ever 
since a soldier named Chauvin made himself conspicuous under 
the first Napoleon by his loud and foolish boasting. From 
his name eomes the term, which has been well defined as 
"unreasoning, irascible, and vainglorious patriotism." It 
was just this exaggerated patriotism that now animated the 
mind of the French. It made the people lose all sense of pro- 
portion and just values in national affairs. To them political 
growth, educational reform, stability of government, and com- 
mercial prosperity had less importance than the reconquest of 
lost territory and the recovery of lost military glory. So the 
nation turned away from those ideals of peaceful progress that 
belong peculiarly to democratic countries and to the closing 
decades of the nineteenth century. It deliberately adopted 
the policy of maintaining a large standing army at great 
expense; and it looked eagerly around for an ally among the 
first-rate military powers of Europe. Germany had strength- 
ened herself by the Triple Alliance; so France courted the 
friendship of Russia. And while the two nations hardly came 
to a definite understanding, it was quite generally assumed 
that, if a European war should break out, Russia would side 
with France and give her substantial support. But as time 
passed the probability that France would humble Germany 
grew more and more remote. The population of France re- 
mained almost stationary; that of Germany increased rapidly, 
in spite of extensive emigration. And although the French 
army equalled the German in point of numbers, no competent 



PART I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 61 

judges believed that French gallantry was a match for the dis. 
ciplined German intelligence. But still France clung with 
marvellous tenacity to the vanishing hope of reconquest, and 
draped with mourning in her public squares statues marked 
Alsace and Lorraine. 

IV. The centralization established by Napoleon I., and never 
done away with by succeeding governments, was working the 
Republic harm. It preveiited the administration from truly 
expressing the national will. For the President and the Min- 
istry do not hold their power as the gift of the people like the 
English Prime Minister and his Cabinet. The President does 
not receive the sanction of a popular vote; and the ministry 
represents individual popularity rather than party policy. In 
England the defeat of a ministry means that the party for 
which it stands has lost its majority and must appeal to the 
country. In France the fall of a ministry only means that its 
head no longer commands the confidence of the Chamber of 
Deputies, and must give way to some more popular man. 
Hence, ministries rise and fall in rapid succession, while yet 
the Government's policy does not materially change. For that 
policy is not in the main dictated by the people through its 
representatives. The Government is so strongly centralized 
that it can to a considerable degree force its own policy upon 
the nation. It can make its authority felt in every commune ; 
and so long as it does not run counter to national prejudice 
and feeling, it can be arbitrary and dictatorial. Biit this very 
power brings with it great temptations. French bureaucracy 
is corrupt ; yet its officials are too strongly entrenched behind 
the Government's authority to be reached and controlled. 

Altogether it was becoming apparent that democracy could 
not be the same thing in France that it is in a thoroughly 
democratic country like America. The party system in France 
is peculiar to a nation with ancient traditions, in that it puts 
privilege against progress. Moreover, the Republicans them- 
selves have failed to unite in support of a moderate, definite, 
and progressive policy. Divided into factions as they are, they 
cannot stand in solid opposition to the reactionists as the 
Liberals are arrayed against the Conservatives in England. 
True, there are divisions among the English Liberals, but they 
do not prevent the party from following one leader and from 



62 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

working together in matters of grave importance. But the 
French Radicals are not easily led and controlled by the Gov- 
ernment Republicans. 

In spite of obstacles, however, Grevy's administration con- 
tinued firm and vigorous. He was reelected to the presidency 
on December 28, 1885, and under his wise and conservative 
management of affairs the Republic gained in strength and 
popularity, though it could not yet rise above the fear of Roy- 
alist machinations. It still regarded the Monarchists with 
dread; and in June, 1886, it took bold and decided measures 
against them. The heads of dynastic families were banished 
from France ; and the Ministry was empowered to banish junior 
members of these families if such a step at any time seemed 
necessary. The Count of Paris and Victor Napoleon, who was 
now the recognized head of the Bonapartists, were thus forced 
to leave their country. The former went to England, where 
refugees have so often found an asylum ; the latter retired to 
Brussels. 

Though this arbitrary action was a confession of weakness, 
it was not without justification. About this time General 
Boulanger, the Minister of War, began to grow popular in 
Paris ; and as his popularity increased the Royalists planned 
to use him as a tool for upsetting the Republic. But before the 
Boulanger movement assumed formidable proportions, the atten- 
tion of the country was absorbed by a scandal which brought 
M. Grevy's presidency to a sudden termination. It Avas found 
that General Caffarel had been selling the coveted ribbon of 
the Legion of Honor. A certain Madame Limousin had con- 
ducted the negotiations between him and would-be purchasers 
of the decoration ; and from her the affair took the name of 
the " Limousin Scandal." M. Wilson, President Grevy's son- 
in-law, proved to be implicated. He was said to have deco- 
rated the builder of his house for a consideration. He had also 
abused M. Grevy's stamp privilege ; and when he found his char- 
acter impeached, he refunded forty thousand francs for stamps 
before any demand was made upon him. M. Grevy himself 
was neither implicated nor suspected. His honesty was above 
reproach. But he felt himself involved in his son-in-law's dis- 
grace, and reluctantly laid down his office. His resignation 
was tendered on December 2, 1887 ; and M. Sadi-Carnot was 



PART I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 63 

chosen to succeed him. M. Carnot was not regarded as a 
very strong or able man, but rather as a safe one. The two 
most prominent candidates for the presidency were M. Ferry 
and M. Freycinet; but they failed to be elected, because 
each of them, by reason of his very brilliancy, aroused mis- 
trust. 

M. Carnot did not belie expectations. He proved a moder- 
ate, cautious, and conservative head of the nation ; and during 
his administration the Republic continued to make headway. 
For a time the Boulanger movement caused excitement and 
appeared slightly threatening ; but Boulanger's own character 
deprived it of solid strength. He was simply an excitable, vain- 
glorious Frenchman ; an excellent embodiment of the spirit of 
chauvinism. In genius and first-rate courage he was lacking. 
But he was idolized by the populace of Paris, and he showed 
some organizing ability in leading and directing them. All 
those who were discontented with the Republic rallied about 
him, and for several years he was a standing menace to French 
politics. He was returned to the Chamber of Deputies more 
than once by enormous majorities, and there he appeared as 
the champion of all the malcontents. The clergy, the Royalists, 
the Imperialists, and the Socialists united in support of his 
schemes, which began to look toward terminating the Republic. 
But in 1888 he was severely wounded in a duel with a citizen. 
Prime Minister Floquet ; and he suffered some loss of prestige. 
In 1889 he was found guilty of embezzlement ; and, on being 
accused of conspiring against the Republic, he fled to Great 
Britain. But his trial went on, notwithstanding his absence, 
and he was sentenced to transportation for life. In 1891 he 
committed suicide. Before his death it transpired that the 
Duchess d'Uzes had furnished three million francs to support 
the movement in his favor, with the understanding that the 
money was to be refunded to her if the Count of Paris was 
placed upon the throne. 

The Boulanger movement, with its vicissitudes and its 
excitements, did not obscure the groAvth of the nation. The 
international exposition at Paris in 1889 gave striking proof of 
the industrial energy of the country. In completeness and 
variety it surpassed all other expositions that had been given ; 
and it served as an argument for the Republic. For the form 



64 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

of government that could so encourage prosperity hardly 
needed to be set aside. 

In 1891 a declaration of Cardinal Lavigerie, famous for his 
exertions against the slave-trade in Africa, showed that the 
Eepublic was growing in stability and favor. For this emi- 
nent prelate declared it to be the only possible form of govern- 
ment for France ; and several archbishops and bishops of the 
country expressed their approval of his utterance. Nor were 
tliere wanting occasional signs that the younger members of 
the nobility were ready to give the Government loyal service 
and to abandon monarchy as a lost cause. 

But the Government received a severe blow in 1893, when 
the Panama scandal was exposed. It was found that a large 
portion of the money invested in the canal scheme had been 
used for corrupt purposes. The press had been bought. Sen- 
ators and deputies had been bribed. After a long investigation 
a number of prominent men were committed for trial. M. de 
Lesseps, the originator of the project, and his son Charles were 
sentenced to imprisonment for five years and to a fine of three 
thousand francs each. Several others were convicted, but they 
received sentences less severe. But these findings were quashed 
by a higher court. Only Charles de Lesseps was imprisoned, and 
he was liberated after a short time. But the canal scheme for 
the time fell through. The original stockholders lost practi- 
cally the whole billion francs which they had invested in the 
enterprise. But in 1894 they formed a new comjjany, which 
attempted to complete the work. The original plan of a tide 
water canal was abandoned in favor of one with locks, though 
even this modified scheme was pronounced unwise by some 
engineering experts. 

In spite of the canal scandal, with its attendant disclosures 
of corruption, the Republicans won a signal victory in the 
national elections of 1893. In the new Chamber of Depu- 
ties the Government supporters numbered 292 ; while the Royal- 
ists and Imperialists together numbered but 58. But the 
Socialist Radicals made great and surprising gains. In the 
early years of Grevy's administration they were a mere hand- 
ful in the Chamber of Deputies. In the newly elected Cham- 
ber they counted 187 members. They could not, indeed, 
control legislation, but they were formidable, and might 
become dangerous if their numbers increased. 



PART I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 65 

Carnot's administration gave general satisfaction, and it was 
fully expected that he would be reelected to the presidency. But 
OQ June 24, 1894, not very long before his term was to expire, 
he was assassinated at Lyons by an anarchist named Cesario 
Santo. M. Casimir-Perier, who had been for some time prom- 
inent in French politics and had already served as Prime Min- 
ister, was immediately chosen to be the nation's executive. In 
this same year, on September 9, occurred the death of the 
Count of Paris. His son, the Duke of Orleans, became the 
new claimant for the throne ; but he lacked his father's dignity 
of character. He had shown himself frivolous and unworthy. 
The monarchist cause seemed discredited under such leader- 
ship. 

The nomination of M. Casimir-Perier was acceptable to the 
country. But on January 15, 1895, only about six months 
after he had taken office, came the startling news of his resig- 
nation. He alleged that a campaign of insult and slander was 
being carried on against himself, the army, the magistracy, and 
the legislature ; and he made some blind allusions to his own 
powerlessness. But the real cause of his strange action was 
not revealed. He was immediately succeeded by M. Felix 
Faure, a self-made man of considerable ability, who had held 
several cabinet positions under different ministries. M. Faure 
proved on the whole an efficient executive, and for a time, both 
politically and socially, he grew in favor. Always dignified 
and self-possessed, he filled most acceptably the more exter- 
nal functions of his office, and met the crowned heads of 
Europe with a bearing that satisfied the fastidious French 
people. But in time it became apparent that he lacked 
strength of character and true greatness of mind. Accordingly, 
when a crisis came, he was utterly unable to lead the nation 
which had honored him with its highest office. 

It was a very serious crisis that came during President 
Faure's administration, and for a time it seemed likely to end 
in the overthrow of the Eepublic. On December 31, 1894, 
Captain Alfred Dreyfus of the French army was sentenced to 
degradation from his rank and to life exile and imprison- 
ment because of alleged treasonable correspondence with for- 
eign powers. The sentence was passed by a court of French 
army officers, and it was accepted as just by the army and the 



66 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

French people generally. Indeed, the feeling against Dreyfus 
was intense ; for he was a Hebrew, and all who could be 
swayed by the widespread anti-Semitic prejudice reviled and 
execrated his name. But his trial had been a secret one, and 
some men of probity and discernment doubted the justice of 
the verdict. Colonel Picquart, head of the Secret Service 
Bureau, was one of Dreyfus's most stalwart champions ; M. 
Scheurer-Kestner, of the Senate, was strongly inclined to 
believe in his innocence; and some of the ablest writers in 
Paris eventually took up his cause, though the press was for 
the most part bitterly hostile to him. Of these writers M. 
Emile Zola, the famous novelist, was the most conspicuous and 
the most outspoken. 

But although Dreyfus did not lack friends, it was not until 
the latter part of 1897 that his case began to attract general 
interest and to cause serious agitation and disturbance. By 
that time, however, it had become widely suspected that 
Colonel Esterhazy, a military adventurer, was the author of the 
bordereau, or document, which Dreyfus had been accused of 
writing, and on account of which he had been condemned. 
Accordingly, Esterhazy was tried by a court-martial in Jan- 
uary, 1898. He was acquitted, but the court that made the 
investigation was so manifestly biassed in his favor that M. 
Zola denounced its proceedings as a mockery of justice. As 
his charges affected the honor of the Government, he was him- 
self prosecuted, and was sentenced to a fine of three thousand 
francs and to imprisonment for four months. But in his trial 
also there was an utter lack of fair play, and his sentence was 
quashed by the Court of Cassation, the supreme tribunal of 
justice in France. The Government thereupon decided upon a 
fresh prosecution ; but as M. Zola found that he would not be 
allowed to establish his case by using evidence bearing upon 
the question of Dreyfus's innocence, he let the second trial 
go by default, and he Avas now sentenced to twelve months' 
imprisonment and to a fine of three thousand francs. But he 
left Paris before the judgment was formally communicated to 
him. 

These proceedings had brought the Dreyfus affair promi- 
nently before the French nation ; but tlie whole military party 
was arrayed aguinst the condemned man, and it was with great 



PART I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 67 

difficulty that the revision of his case which his friends de- 
manded was obtained. President Faure, who should have 
used the weight of his position in favor of revision, would do 
nothing for the prisoner ; and a powerful coterie of army officers 
tried to establish Dreyfus's guilt by the most unscrupulous 
methods. They did not hesitate to disseminate falsehoods 
and to forge incriminating documents ; and finding that Colo- 
nel Picquart stood in the way of their schemes, they succeeded 
in placing him in prison on a charge of forgery. But after a 
time their infamies came to light. On August 30, 1898, Colo- 
nel Henry, one of the band of conspirators, on being closely 
questioned by the Minister of War, admitted that he had 
forged a certain important letter, "because of the absolute 
necessity for finding proofs against Dreyfus." He was imme- 
diately arrested, and only two days later he was found dead 
in prison. Whether he committed suicide or was murdered 
by those who had made him their tool, was not surely known. 
But his death and his confession of guilt made a profound 
impression upon the Prench people and caused a reaction in 
Dreyfus's favor. Even the Government, which had used its 
influence against him, no longer dared to oppose revision, and 
his case was accordingly brouglit before the Court of Cassation 
in October, 1898. 

This action might fairly have been expected to quiet feeling 
and to cause both the enemies and the friends of Dreyfus to 
await with calmness the verdict of so weighty a tribunal. But 
the contrary was the case. The Dreyfus affair was more and 
more searchingly probed by the press, and the crooked and dis- 
honorable ways of the military were so fully revealed that the 
army began to lose its prestige. How then should it vindicate 
itself before the nation ? By a coup cVetat it was prophesied 
by many ; and their expectation was not wholly groundless. 
The Duke of Orleans and Prince Louis Napoleon ^ each stood 
ready to enter France and overthrow the Republic, if a fitting 
opportunity presented itself. 

But the generals were either too loyal or too timid to inau- 
gurate a revolution, and even when the nation was left tempo- 

1 Prince Victor, the older brother of Louis, is the recognized head of the 
Imperialists (p. 62). But Louis, as possessing greater energy and ability than 
his brother, seemed better fitted to be the head of a revolutionary movement. 



68 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

rarily without a head there was no outbreak. On the evening 
of February 16, 1899, President Faure died suddenly of apo- 
plexy ; but two days later M. Emile Loubet, an eminent ^ and 
widely respected man, was quietly elected to the vacant office, 
and there was no attempt to overthrow the Government beyond 
an incendiary but utterly futile appeal to the military on the 
part of one misguided individual. Thus the Republic scored 
a notable triumph ; for M. Loubet was a man of sterling in- 
tegrity, and though he had not openly expressed himself in 
favor of Dreyfus, no one doubted that he wished to see jus- 
tice done and that he would uphold the Court of Cassation's 
verdict. 

That verdict was given early in June and was in favor of 
Dreyfus. . The Court expressed its profound conviction that 
the prisoner had been condemned on insufficient evidence, and 
that there were grave reasons for considering Colonel Ester- 
hazy the guilty person. It therefore ordered a new trial. To 
meet this requirement of the Court, Dreyfus was brought back 
from Devil's Island, off the coast of French Guiana, where he 
had been confined ; and after a few weeks was court-martialed 
anew at Rennes. But his second trial, although not secret 
like the first, was also nothing better than a travesty of justice. 
It began on August 7 and lasted for five weeks, during which 
time many witnesses were called to the stand by the prosecu- 
tion and by the defence, and a large number of documents that 
were supposed to bear upon the case were examined. The 
evidence against the accused was too weak to be worthy of 
serious consideration, and could not possibly have procured 
his conviction in any fair-minded court. But the court was 
not fair-minded. It was composed of seven army officers, and 
was therefore under that baleful shadow of militarism that 
was enshrouding the nation. Hence, although Dreyfus was 
ably defended by Maitre Labori, the distinguished lawyer who 
had pleaded so powerfully at M. Zola's trial, he was found 
guilty and was sentenced to imprisonment for ten years. But 
the Government did not allow the sentence to stand. Upon 
the recommendation of General Gallifet, the Minister of War,. 
Dreyfus was promptly pardoned by President Loubet and was 

1 M. Loubet had been National Deputy, Senator, Minister of Public Works, 
Prime Minister, and President of the Senate. 



PART I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 69 

thus saved from further confinement, though his honor was 
not cleared.^ 

In recommending the pardon of Dreyfus, General Gallifet 
announced that " the incident was closed." But such was not 
the view of sober-minded people the world over who had fol- 
lowed the course of this extraordinary case. A grave injustice 
had been done, and it remained to be seen whether the French 
people had the moral strength to right so monstrous a wrong. 
It was useless to assert that the condemned man had sold 
secrets to the very allies of France, and that his treasonable 
doings could not be brought to light without endangering the 
safety of the nation. The one fact which the world noted 
was that Dreyfus was never proved guilty. So far as the 
evidence went, he was an innocent man. It was therefore 
necessary for the honor of the nation that a verdict which was 
in utter defiance of law and justice should not go unrighted. 
To allow it to stand was to acknowledge that the civil power 
was subservient to the military, and that the republican insti- 
tutions of the country did not insure the rights of the individ- 
ual. Government by the people does not exist where a ring 
of unscrupulous generals can dominate the courts and defeat 
the ends of justice. 

But even if the verdict given at Rennes were to be altered 
by a higher tribunal, the question would still arise, what polit- 
ical gains have been made by the French nation since 1789 ? 
The history of more than a hundred years shows revolution, 
upheaval, restlessness under every form of government, and at 

1 Dreyfus is not the only one who has suffered from the inahility of French 
judges to free their minds from prejudice and render their verdict in accord- 
ance witli facts. The injustice of liis sentence may well call to mind the case 
of the Siamese officer, Pra Yaut, who was condemned by a French court on 
equally insulticient evidence. While Siani was at war with France in 1893, 
Pra Yaut, with a force of Siamese soldiers, attacked a French post on the 
river Mekong, not knowing that the ground where the French were encamped 
had been newly ceded to France by the Siamese Government. In the course 
of the engagement the commander of the French post, M. Grosgurin, was 
killed, and the French accordingly demanded that Pra Yaut should be tried 
for murder by French judges. This demand the Siamese sovereign. King 
Chulalongkorn, resisted; but he gave way when a French fleet blockaded the 
Menam River in July, 1893. Although Pra Yaut was ably defended and his 
innocence of wrong intent was clearly shown, he was condemned by his 
French judges to twenty years of hard labor. Consult Contemporary Review, 
71: 890. 



70 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

the end a whole people blinded to right and honor by their 
military idols. Was it for this that the third estate assumed 
control of the nation and sent Louis XVI. to the scaffold ? 
Surely democracy should mean something better than political 
instability and corrupt centralization. 

But a sober view of this very century of disquietude shows 
that the will of the people, though not always dominant, has 
yet been respected and has stood in the way of unbridled 
license and tyranny. It was the voice of the people that com- 
pelled Louis XVIII. to govern by a Constitution, overthrew 
Charles X., established Louis Philippe as a " citizen king " and 
finally drove him into exile, brought the glittering thraldom of 
the Second Napoleon's reign to an end, and prevented a restora- 
tion of the bigoted Bourbon line. French people do not indeed 
assert themselves as the members of a democracy always must 
assert themselves, if they would secure the largest freedom 
and build up a great and noble commonwealth. But they 
have made it plain that they will not allow themselves to be 
trampled under foot, and it may be doubted whether an auto- 
cratic rule like that which now oppresses Germany could possi- 
bly exist in France.^ The very frequency of revolutions during 
the last hundred years has had its salutary lessons. For no 
form of government would now dare to establish a regime of 
tyranny and oppression. To do so would merely hasten its 
downfall. 

It may well be questioned, therefore, whether the Republic 
is near its end. Surely the reactionists have little to gain by 
setting up a kingdom or an empire. Without the aid of a man 
of genius they could not maintain such a regime for a single 
decade. Nor are the signs of the dissolution of the Eepublic 
as near as is frequently assumed. Prophecies of its speedy 
downfall have been rife ever since it was founded, and it must 
be admitted that it is beset by many dangers. Official corrup- 
tion, disloyalty in high circles, inadequate parliamentary repre- 
sentation,^ the dominance of militarism, and the indifference of 
the French peasantry to self-government, all threaten its exist- 
ence, and while it lives it will doubtless have a troubled and 

1 The better side of French political and industrial life is well presented in 
" What the World owes to France," The Forum, 28: 283. 
^Fortnightly Review, 68: 536. 



PART I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 71 

precarious life. Yet it may thrive even amid excitement and 
alarms. For turmoil, change, and excitement seem to compose 
the Frenchman's native element. These things appeal to the 
excitable Celtic mind, which loves anything better than monot- 
ony and unvarying routine. Hence a condition of affairs that 
would portend ruin and catastrophe in England may be normal 
and not menacing in France. Even when Paris was most 
excited over the Dreyfus controversy, its populace was as eager 
as ever in the pursuit of pleasure, and seemed to regard poli- 
tics chiefly as a means of affording interesting sensations. Not 
turbulence, then, but the strong man, is what the Republic has 
to dread. A seemingly grave crisis may bring no real danger, 
unless there appears with it the hero who captivates the mind 
of the nation. Not a pseudo-hero like Boulanger ; not a weak- 
ling, who presses the claims of a worn-out dynasty. The 
Republic is too securely founded to be overturned by a man of 
straw. But the great Napoleon's career might to some extent 
be repeated by one who had Napoleon's power over men. 



France has an area of 204,092 square miles, and a population 
of not quite 39,000,000. The annual expenditure has now 
reached the figure of $700,000,000. 

The Government is the Republic established by the Consti- 
tution adopted in 1875, and revised in 1884 and 1885. The 
legislative power is vested in a Senate and a Chamber of Depu- 
ties. These two Houses meet in joint session to choose a Presi- 
dent, whose term is fixed at seven years. But he may be 
reelected. He appoints and dismisses the Prime Minister and 
his Cabinet; promulgates the laws and sees that, they are exe- 
cuted ; disposes of the army and navy ; has the right of 
pardoning individuals; and makes all civil and military 
appointments. He cannot veto laws which the Assembly 
passes, but can only request a reconsideration of them. The 
Chamber of Deputies consists of 584 members : 6 of these are 
for Algeria and 10 for the Colonies. They are chosen for a 
term of four years by universal suffrage. Every man can vote 
who is twenty-one years old and has resided for two years in 
any one town or canton. But convicts and deserters are dis- 



72 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

f ranchisecl. A deputy must be a citizen and must be twenty-five 
years old. The Senate is composed of 300 members, who are 
elected for a term of nine years. A third of their number 
retires every three years. When the Senate was originally 
organized 75 of its members were appointed for life. But in 
1884 it was enacted that as vacancies occurred among these 
life senatorships they should be filled by election in the ordi- 
nary way. In France, as in the United States, the senators are 
not directly chosen by the people. In each department they 
are appointed by a body composed of delegates from the com- 
munes, or municipalities, the members of the council general, 
and the deputies of the department. A senator must be forty 
years of age. Both senators and deputies are paid for their 
services. 

The local administration of France is largely in the hands 
of the central Government. The country is divided into 87 
departments, including Belfort, which has the character of 
one; 362 arrondissements ; 2871 cantons; and 36,121 com- 
munes. At the head of each department is a prefect appointed 
by the Government, who has large executive powers. In the 
management of local affairs he is assisted by a council gen- 
eral chosen by universal suffrage. Similarly, there is a sub- 
prefect, also appointed by the Government, in the chief town 
of each arrondissement ; and he is assisted by an arrondisse- 
ment council, also chosen by universal suffrage. The canton 
is the seat of a justice of the peace, but has no organized 
government like that of the department and the arrondisse- 
ment. Each commune is governed by a mayor with the help of 
one or more assistants, according to its size, and a municipal 
council. The members of the council are elected by univer- 
sal suffrage, and they elect the mayor from their own number. 
As the mayor represents the central Government as well as the 
commune his duties are sometimes conflicting. The whole 
system of local government is so contrived as to give enor- 
mous power to the central authority of the nation. Through 
the prefects and the sub-prefects, the Government can make 
itself felt in every community in the land, and can largely 
direct the management of local affairs. 

The judicial system of France is not materially different 
from that established by Napoleon in his Consulate. Simplic- 



PART I THE THIRD REPUBLIC 73 

ity and uniformity are its characteristics. It recognizes two 
distinct classes of courts: (1) civil and criminal; (2) administra- 
tive. But apart from these there are a few special courts. 

The civil and criminal courts consist of (1) the court of 
justice of the peace in each canton; (2) the correctional court 
in each arrondissement ; (3) twenty-six courts of appeal in the 
principal cities of France ; (4) the Court of Cassation, which 
sits at Paris, and is the supreme court of appeal for the whole 
country. Administrative courts try only those cases in which 
the administration is interested. The cardinal principle of 
French law is tliat every case may be heard in more than one 
court. Jiidges are appointed by the head of the State, and can- 
not be removed except by the consent of the Court of Cassa- 
tion. In serious criminal cases a jury is employed and decides 
whether the accused is guilty by a majority vote. About 
eighty per cent of the population is Roman Catholic, but all 
religions are equal before the law, and every sect which num- 
bers a hundred thousand is entitled to a grant from the State. 

Education has made great strides since the Republic was 
established, and the percentage of illiteracy is rapidly diminish- 
ing. The Government supervises all public instruction, includ- 
ing that of the highest schools or universities. The public 
schoolmaster is a State official. He is appointed by the 
prefect of his department, and on retiring is entitled to a pen- 
sion. Primary education is compulsory for all children 
between the ages of six and fourteen; and is gratuitous. 
For the purposes of secondary education many schools and 
colleges have been established throughout the country. But 
their courses are not compulsory or free. Higher education is 
given in the Faculties, which furnish instruction in law, medi- 
cine, science, letters, and theology. There are sixteen of these 
Faculties in France ; but the most celebrated is the one at Paris, 
where nearly ten thousand students are sometimes enrolled. 

The most important industry in France is agriculture, which 
occupies one-half of the population. But France imports much 
more food than she exports ; and she also depends on other 
countries for her raw materials. But her manufacturing inter- 
ests are extensive, and her exports of cotton, woollen, and silk 
fabrics, fancy goods, and leather articles, are considerable. 
She also exports much wine; but in some years she imports 



74 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

more. The yearly income of her population is estimated to be 
six or seven billions of dollars, or a sum which may be roughly 
computed as equal to her national debt. The total capital of a 
nation is always estimated with difficulty, on account of the 
constant fluctuation in values, and the unceasing accumulation 
of capital. But the capital of France is probably not far below 
$50,000,000,000. 

Even with this enormous total of wealth, it is difficult to 
raise the annual income. The Government employs both 
direct and indirect taxation. France has adopted the policy 
of protection, and derives large revenues from the tax on 
imports. She also raises considerable sums by controlling 
four monopolies, viz. tobacco, gunpowder, matches, posts and 
telegraphs. Without the returns from these monopolies the 
task of raising a sufficient revenue would be much more seri- 
ous and difficult. There are four principal dii-ect taxes, which, 
with some minor taxes, yield f 100,000,000 annually. They 
are the Land Tax ; the Personelle-mobiliere Tax ; the Door and 
Window Tax ; and the License Tax. 

France maintains an army of about 525,000 men. Her navy 
is second only to that of England. 



CHAPTER V 

ITALY 

The Italian peninsula has often been the scene of discord 
and fierce contention. Not easily have its races blended to 
form a united people. For the native temper is jealous and 
stubborn. Rome found it a difficult task to subdue the various 
tribes and to make them entirely submissive to her rule. When 
her grasp upon them was relinquished, they became a prey to 
the invading races, and iniity disappeared. But gradually the 
native peoples asserted themselves. They acquired a new civ- 
ilization more brilliant than the Roman. Other cities became 
centres of learning and culture and gave to the fine arts unpar- 
alleled development. But they could not unite. Italy was 
once m'ore divided into dissentient and conflicting powers, as 
she had been before the days of Roman supremacy. Guelfs 
and Ghibellines waged fierce war upon each other. Between 
the great and powerful cities deadly feuds arose. So once 
more did invaders come over the Alpine barrier and trample 
Italy under foot. Seeing her weakness, the Northern nations 
found her a tempting prize. France began the task of despoil- 
ing her in 1492. Other nations joined in the work and made it 
but too complete. Italy passed almost entirely under foreign 
rule. 

Hence, the condition of the Italian people toward the close 
of the eighteenth century was a peculiarly unhappy one. Not 
only did they lack national unity and constitutional rights, but 
they did not really have possession of their own country. The 
so-called Republic of Venice still lingered on and was not dis- 
solved until 1797. And Savoy, Piedmont, and Sardinia were 
under the ancient house of Savoy, the heads of which might 
fairly be considered Italian princes. But the rest of Italy was 
in alien hands. The States of the Church, that large tract of 

75 



76 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

land in the centre of the peninsula, was governed by the Pope, 
who in all things consulted first the interests of the Church 
rather than those of Italy. All the territory to the south of 
the States of the Church, together with Sicily, made the Two 
Sicilies and was governed by a Spanish line. In the north the 
duchy of Parma was also under a Spanish prince. France 
exercised a protectorate over Genoa and Modena. Austria had 
control over Milan, and Tuscany was governed by an Austrian 
duke. 

Self-government, therefore, was needed by no people more 
than by the Italians. Under these alien rulers they could not 
be prosperous or happy. The dukes of Tuscauy did indeed 
give their subjects a mild and beneficent rule during the latter 
half of the eighteenth century, but they were a shining excep- 
tion among the Italian princes. Most of these petty despots 
took no interest in the peoples they governed, and allowed 
them no rights and privileges. Poverty and illiteracy were the 
peasant's lot. He was treated more like a chattel than a human 
being. 

But Bonaparte's conquests in Italy inspired the Italian 
people with hope. In 1795 and 1796 the Austrians were 
thoroughly vanquished by the French, and the alien princes 
were unseated. Venice now lost her ancient institutions and 
was surrendered to Austria. The King of Sardinia retired from 
his dominions, and Pope Pius VI. fled to France. Republics 
were set up in place of the former tyrannies. Bonaparte's 
expedition to Egypt in 1798 resulted in a temporary loss of 
supremacy. The generals he had left in Italy could not hold 
their own when deprived of his leadership, but his reappear- 
ance on the scene in 1800 soon restored his sway over the whole 
peninsula. It was not, however, to give the Italians self-gov- 
ernment that he returned. He swept away old abuses, and 
gave the country a far more enlightened rule than it had 
known under its despotic princes. But he made Italy contrib- 
ute to his own power and advancement. Out of its northern 
portion he formed a kingdom for himself, after becoming 
Emperor ; and Naples he made subject to his brother Joseph, 
and afterwards to his marshal, Murat, who had married his 
sister Caroline. He finally annexed the States of the Church, 
deposing Pius VII. as summarily as he had dealt with Pius VI. 



PART I ITALY 77 

And such portions of the peninsula as still remained he used as 
prizes for his generals and relatives. 

iSTaturally these arrangements could not outlast Napoleon's 
own tenure of power. The Congress of Vienna made short 
work with them and reestablished the old despotisms. Venice 
and Milan were restored to Austria; and Austrian princes 
were placed over Tuscany and Modena. The Spanish-Bourbon 
line, represented by Ferdinand I., resumed its sway over 
Naples ; and Parma also was given back to the Bourbons in the 
end, though Maria Louisa, Napoleon's wife, ruled it through 
her lifetime. Piedmont and Sardinia were restored to Victor 
Emmanuel I., of the House of Savoy, and Genoa was added to 
his possessions ; and Pius VII. was reinstated over the States 
of the Church. Thus Italy was no better off than she had 
been before Napoleon's changes. Her rulers governed without 
Constitutions. Unity and liberty seemed far away. But the 
governments established by Napoleon had brought the day of 
deliverance nearer. They had been short-lived, but they had 
given the Italians glimpses of independence, of free institu- 
tions, and of national greatness, that were not forgotten. 

It was over no willing subjects, then, that the alien princes 
assumed their despotic sway. And despotic enough that sway 
proved in most instances. Of the Austrian and Bourbon 
princes only the Duke of Tuscany showed any liberal sym- 
pathies. In the States of the Church it was even attempted 
to restore the Inquisition. And so the Italians organized in 
secret to accomplish the work of liberation. Secret societies 
spread throughout the country. The league of the Carbonari 
(charcoal burners), which had long been in existence, now 
numbered sixty thousand members. Eveiywhere the lovers of 
liberty worked and watched and waited. They were ready to 
strike at the smallest prompting. 

In 1820 the prompting came, for the revolution in Spain 
that occurred in that year occasioned a ferment in Italy. On 
July 2 a lieutenant in a cavalry regiment serving under the 
King of Naples incited his soldiers to imitate the Spaniards 
and refuse to be subjects of a tyrant any longer. His soldiers 
took fire at his words and raised the banner of revolt. Their 
spirit was contagious. The movement rapidly spread. King 
Ferdinand was overawed, and granted the Spanish Constitution 



78 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

which the Carbonari demanded. He even took a solemn oath 
to maintain it, in the presence of a large gathering of the 
people. 

But his word proved utterly worthless. Metternich was 
alarmed at the strength of the revolutionary movement. He 
feared it would sweep through Italy and even into other coun- 
tries, and he persuaded the Holy Alliance to supi^ress it. In 
1821 Avistrian troops were sent to restore Ferdinand to all his 
rights. Prussian troops were to reenforce them if necessary. 
The leaders of the revolution at Naples made only a feeble 
stand against this invasion of foreign forces. Unfortunately 
they had despatched the best of their troops to quell an upris- 
ing in Sicily, which had not only revolted against Ferdinand's 
government, but had endeavored to acquire complete indepen- 
dence and sever its connection with Naples altogether. So, 
thus weakened, the revohitionary party was easily dispersed. 
Ferdinand, strengthened by foreign bayonets, broke his oath, 
withdrew the Constitution he had granted, and reigned more 
despotically than ever. The press was placed under the strict- 
est censorship; the schools were closed; the Carbonari were 
made the object of a relentless persecution. 

Turin, the capital of the kingdom of Piedmont, was also the 
centre of a revolution. But here also the movement was sig- 
nally defeated. The insurgents expected Milan to join in the 
revolt, and to form North Italy into a united kingdom. Their 
king should have headed the movement, which was aimed, not 
merely to secure constitutional rights, but to rid the country 
of Austrian rule. But Victor Emmanuel was himself a petty 
tyrant ; and his brother Charles Felix, in whose favor he abdi- 
cated when the revolution became formidable, was a man of 
greater decision but equal intolerance. But in Charles Albert, 
a kindred prince of the House of Savoy, the revolutionists 
thought they had found a leader. This young man loved 
liberty and hated Austria; at the critical moment, however, 
he proved faint-hearted and untrustworthy. The revolution 
came to be little better than a farce, and the few insurgents 
who finally took the field were easily scattered. The principles 
of Metternich were triumphant in Piedmont as well as in 
Naples. The friends of liberty must again submit to watch 
and wait. 



PART I ITALY 79 

For ten years they waited, though they never ceased to labor 
in secret. The members of the Carbonari continually increased 
in numbers, and their influence was felt in every corner of 
Italy. In 1830 came the July Revolution in France which 
unseated Charles X., and once more the Italians rose for politi- 
cal freedom. This time the States of the Church and the 
duchies of Parma and Modena were the seats of revolutionary 
activity. In each of these districts an insurrection of formida- 
ble character broke out. In the States of the Church the death 
of Pope Pius VIII. in 1830 occasioned the uprising ; for a dis- 
contented people naturally strikes for freedom when left with- 
out a ruler. But once more the hopes of Italy were blighted 
by Austrian interference. Austrian troops were sent into the 
disaffected states. The uprisings were easily put down, and 
their leaders were in some instances summarily dealt with. 
The Duke of Modena showed a peculiarly hard and resentful 
temper. Of the principal conspirators in his domain two were 
executed, while others were condemned to the galleys or thrown 
into prison. 

After these discouraging failures the conspirators were more 
quiet for a time, yet they never lost their enthusiasm or their 
faith in their cause. They had gifted leaders who appealed 
to the liberal sentiment of Europe in Italy's behalf. One of 
the most distinguished of Italian patriots was Giuseppe Maz- 
zini. A leading member of the Carbonari, he was betrayed in 
1830, and withdrew to France. There he wrote much, kept in 
close communication with his fellow-patriots, and organized the 
society of Young Italy, which became famous all over Europe. 
Its objects Avere the freedom and unity of Italy ; its means of 
obtaining them were education and insurrection. In 1832 the 
French Government denied Mazzini an asylum within its terri- 
tory, and he took refuge in Switzerland. In 1834 he organized 
an invasion of the kingdom of Savoy; but this attempt at 
insurrection ended in utter failure. Mazzini and his fellow- 
conspirators were scattered by the first fire of the troops sent 
out to oppose them. Required to leave Switzerland in 1837, 
he found a home in London, where he remained for many 
years, calling attention to his country's wrongs and inciting 
his countrymen to rebellion. But the stirring events of 1848 
drew him back to Italy. Visionary and romantic, he found his 



80 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

calling in rousing enthusiasm and in making the cause of Italy 
known throughout Europe. Yet he took an active part in some 
of the revolutionary uprisings, and showed unusual executive 
ability. 

Quite a different character was Giuseppe Garibaldi, born at 
Nice in 1807. If Mazzini's best weapon was the pen, his was 
unquestionably the sword. In foresight, cool deliberation, and 
broad statesmanship he was lacking; but his burning patri- 
otism, his energy, his unequalled dash and daring, made him a 
splendid revolutionary leader. He hated tyranny and he loved 
to assail it, sword in hand, wheresoever opportunity offered. 
In 1834 he joined the Young Italy movement, and was con- 
demned to death for taking part in an attempt to capture 
Genoa. Escaping, he made his way to South America, and 
there for some years he gave his services to the province of 
Rio Grande, which was in rebellion against the Emperor of 
Brazil. In 1848 he returned to his own country, and from that 
time on was closely identified with the Italian patriots in their 
struggle for independence. His bands of " red shirts " became 
famous, and he led them to many a victory. Unquestionably 
his daring and his irrepressible energy hastened the day of 
Italian freedom. 

These two patriots were especially distinguished, but in their 
zeal and their single-hearted devotion they were but typical of 
the Italian temper. There were thousands equally ready to 
do and die for their country, and they kept Italy in a perpet- 
ual state of unrest. The whole soil was undermined with in- 
trigue. The petty despots sat on tottering thrones. The fires 
of insurrection were always smouldering; a breath of encour- 
agement might at any moment bring them to a flame. 

In 1846 such encouragement came from a most unexpected 
quarter. Pius IX. succeeded in that year to the papal throne 
and showed himself a reformer. He mitigated the almost in- 
tolerable rule of his predecessor, Gregory XVI., granted an 
amnesty to political offenders, and set about framing a Consti- 
tution. Joy reigned throughout Italy. The cry for Consti- 
tutions echoed through the land and could not be resisted. 
Constitutions were granted in Tuscany and Piedmont in 1847. 
The duchy of Lucca now came to an end ; for its duke aban- 
doned his possessions, and they Avere annexed by Tuscany. In 



PART I ITALY 81 

February, 1848, occurred the outbreak in Paris against Louis 
Philippe, and Italy at once took fire. Sicily was already in 
insurrection. Naples also revolted, and King Ferdinand II. 
promised a liberal Constitution. Milan and Venice rose against 
Austria. The duchies of Parma and Modena were abandoned 
by their rulers, and provisional governments were established 
in them. The Duke of Tuscany also eventually abandoned his 
duchy through fear of the revolutionary movement. In Rome 
the moderate reform movement inaugurated by Pius IX. did 
not satisfy the radicals. Rossi, the liberal minister whom the 
Pope had chosen to carry out his plans, was assassinated. The 
Pope himself fled in disguise from his domains. A Republic 
was proclaimed, and the temporal sovereignty of the Church 
was for the time being brought to an end. Mazzini and his 
associates assumed control of the city. 

Thus there was everywhere insurrection, and the hopes of 
Italy were high. But the revolution needed a leader. Charles 
Albert, who in 1831 had succeeded Charles Felix as King of 
Sardinia and Piedmont, seemed to be the only ruler who could 
inspire the confidence of the patriots. His liberal sympathies 
were well known, and he now became the centre of the revolu- 
tionary movement. But the same weaknesses which caused him 
to fail in 1831 again betrayed themselves. He was personally 
brave, but he lacked energy and decision. He inspired no 
enthusiasm. His movements were not ably planned or vigor- 
ously executed. Accordingly, almost from the first he played 
a losing game. The Piedmontese forces were by no means con- 
temptible. Well led, they might have proved formidable op- 
ponents to the Austrians, whose domains in North Italy Charles 
Albert invaded. But under the King's feeble generalship the 
Sardinians gained only one or two trifling successes. In 1848 
they Avon the victories of Pastrengo and Goito, but soon after 
they were disastrously defeated at Custozza. The Austrians 
were under the command of General Radetsky, and this aged 
soldier, who had fought against Napoleon, had lost none of his 
vigor and energy at the age of eighty-two. He drove Charles 
Albert out of Milan, which the Sardinians had occupied; and 
on August 9, 1848, Charles Albert signed an armistice. But 
he could not quietly endure the mortification of these reverses. 
In March, 1849, he set aside the armistice and again took the 



82 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

field. But before he could invade the enemy's country, Radet- 
sky led his forces into Sardinian territory, and on March 23 
inflicted upon Charles Albert the severe defeat of Novara, which 
put an end to the war. Weary and heart-broken, the Sardinian 
King abdicated in favor of his son, Victor Emmanuel II., and de- 
parted from the country he had failed to liberate. Onl}^ four 
months later he died in Portugal. 

The failure of Sardinia meant the failure of the revolution 
all over Italy. The insurgents had hoped that their divided 
efforts would end in a united movement under a victorious king, 
but the states were not equal to fighting their battles against 
despotism single-handed. Ferdinand II. subdued his rebellious 
subjects both in Naples and in Sicily. The Dukes of Tuscany, 
Parma, and Modena were reinstated over their duchies by Aus- 
trian troops. At Rome Garibaldi and Mazzini made a desper- 
ate defence against great odds ; but Louis Napoleon espoused 
the cause of the Pope and sent a considerable force of soldiers 
to regain for him his temporal sovereignty. Spain and Naples 
also helped to suppress the insurgents. Rome was obliged to 
capitulate, and Mazzini and Garibaldi fled. Venice, under Dan- 
iel Manin, still resisted after the insurrection was everywhere 
else suppressed. But on August 24, 1849, the city surrendered, 
and IVIanin went into exile. He never saw Italy again, as he 
died in Paris in 1857, before the day of Italian freedom had 
dawned. But his heroic exertions in the defence of Venice 
entitle him to a conspicuous place among the patriots of his 
country. 

The Revolution of 1848 and 1849 had apparently accom- 
plished nothing. Except in the kingdom of Sardinia despot- 
ism now reigned from the Alps to Sicily. Yet out of defeat 
was born the hope of ultimate victory. The House of Savoy 
was still the centre of the movement for freedom and unity ; 
and its new King proved worthy to lead the patriot cause. 
Victor Emmanuel II. was a man of strong and noble character. 
He had the force, the balanced judgment, and the steadiness of 
purpose which his father, Charles Albert, had lacked. More- 
over, he had the services of a statesman greater than himself, 
who was destined to accomplish by diplomacy what revolution 
had failed to secure. Count Camillo Benso di Cavour was born 
at Turin in 1810, of an ancient family, and showed at an early 



PART I ITALY 83 

age remarkable ability. But for many years he found no field 
for the exercise of his powers except in improving agriculture 
on his own estates ; for he did not believe that Italy could be 
liberated by spasmodic revolutionary outbreaks, and he would 
not join in the uprisings of 1831 and 1848. But when Victor 
Emmanuel II. became King of Sardinia, Cavour was appointed 
to a place in the Sardinian Cabinet; and in 1852 he was made 
Prime Minister. With rare skill and foresight he formed a 
policy which ultimately freed Italy from foreign rule and made 
it a united nation. He was sure that her deliverance could be 
gained only through the intervention of a foreign power ; and 
he waited for an opportunity to win for Italy the support of 
some of the great European nations. An opportunity seemed 
to offer when the Crimean War broke out in 1854. Through 
the efforts of Cavour an Italian army was sent to the Crimea 
with the forces of France and England, and in the bloody battle 
of Tchernaya^ it won the gratitude of the allies by its conspicu- 
ous gallantry. As Italy had taken part in the war she was 
entitled to a voice in the deliberations that were held at its 
conclusion. Cavour himself attended the Congress of Paris, 
and before its sittings were over he forced the interests of 
Italy upon its notice. He declared that the peace of Europe 
could not be securely established until Italy was made a united 
nation ; and he demanded that the* despotic governments in 
Italy be made to grant liberal Constitutions. These demands 
were not enforced, and Cavour did not expect them to be. 
But they made an impression upon the Congress. Italy had 
attracted the attention and the sympathy of enlightened Eu- 
rope. The country that had done such great things for civili- 
zation could not much longer remain under the rule of foreign 
despots. 

But four years were to pass ere Cavour's hope of foreign 
intervention was realized. Meanwhile King Victor Emmanuel 
and his Prime Minister continued to give Sardinia the benefit 
of an enlightened rule. Indeed, the internal reforms accom- 
plished by Cavour, with the King's assistance, were one of the 

1 The battle of Tchernaya was fou,s:ht on August 16, 1855, on which date the 
allied arraies were attacked by 50,000 Russians, who endeavored to break 
through the lines of the allies and relieve Sebastopol. They were driven back 
with great slaughter. About 1200 of the allies were killed and wounded ; but 
of these 1200, 200 were Italians. 



84 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

most creditable features of his statesmanship. During the 
years from 1852 to 1859, while he was waiting ' for foreign 
assistance, he brought Sardinia abreast of the advanced nations 
of Europe. He adopted a moderate free trade policy, estab- 
lished a more equitable system of taxation, and cultivated the 
friendship of the Church without admitting all its claims. He 
believed that the Church and the State should each have entire 
freedom within its own domain, and this view he maintained 
with vmllinching courage, but with unfailing tact and skill. A 
free Church in a free State was his motto. Nor did he lose 
the interest that he had taken in agriculture before his public 
life began. In every possible way he strove to make the 
peasant population thrifty and prosperous. 

But in 1859 the long-expected war note was sounded, and 
domestic interests were set aside by the all-absorbing struggle 
for freedom. Louis Napoleon undertook to liberate North 
Italy from Austria, and Sardinia eagerly seconded his efforts. 
To the imposing array of the French, Victor Emmanuel added 
his own comparatively meagre army. The French met the 
Austrians at Magenta on June 4, and the allied forces encoun- 
tered them at Solferino on June 24. In both battles the 
French were successful, though rather through gallantry than 
through superior strategy. Napoleon himself did not under- 
stand the art of war, apd his marshals were not first-rate 
generals. But, fortunately, the Austrian generals were still 
more inefficient ; their forces were driven from the field, and 
were obliged to leave Lombardy in possession of the allied 
armies. Flushed with victory, the Sardinians were eager to 
push on and wrest Venetia also from Austria's grasp. But to 
their surprise and consternation, Louis Napoleon concluded a 
treaty of peace with the Emperor of Austria without consult- 
ing their wishes. The French Emperor had indeed declared 
the intention of freeing Italy from the Alps to the Adriatic, 
but he now abandoned his original purpose. He had reason to 
believe that Prussia would attack France by way of the Rhine 
if he attempted to humiliate Austria still further. Moreover, 
he was conscious of his own lack of military skill.^ So he 

1 Napoleon's reasons for abandoning the campaign after the battle of Sol- 
ferino are well stated by De la Gorce in his " Histoire du Second Empire," 
III. 103, 104. 



PART I ITALY 85 

allowed Austria to keep Venetia, and he exacted Savoy and 
Nice from Sardinia as a reward for his own services to Italy. 

Deep was the indignation excited by Napoleon's conduct. 
The Italians felt that they had been betrayed, and even Cavour 
was carried away by his feelings. Rather than acquiesce in 
so disappointing a treaty he resigned his premiership. For- 
tunately Victor Emmanuel read the issues of the hour more 
clearly. He recognized the folly of losing everything through 
trying to gain too much. He therefore assented to the French 
Emperor's terms, added Lombardy to his own domains, and 
gave up Savoy and Nice. To Garibaldi the loss of the latter 
city was particularly bitter. Nice was his birthplace, and as 
it now became a French city, he felt as it were expatriated. 

In spite of their resentment the Sardinians had gained much. 
They had acquired a considerable territory north of the Po. 
They had broken the power of Austria in North Italy. They 
had added the duchies of Parma, Tuscany, and Modena to their 
domains. For the peoples of these duchies, abandoned by their 
princes when the storm of war first broke, voluntarily attached 
themselves to the kingdom of Sardinia. Thus the cause of 
constitutionalism was growing; the House of Savoy was 
becom'ing stronger ; the day of alien rule was drawing to its 
close. 

In 1861 a further blow for independence and national unity 
was struck, and it was aimed at the crudest despotism of Italy. 
King Ferdinand II. of Naples, who came to the throne in 1830, 
made his name famous all over Europe by the merciless sever- 
ity of his rule. His subjects named him King Bomba, be- 
cause he bombarded rebellious cities into submission. Political 
offenders he dealt with in the most summary manner, for he 
was determined to keep revolutionary agitation out of his 
territory. So he condemned men on mere suspicion as arbi- 
trarily as an Oriental despot. Mr. Gladstone visited Naples 
in 1851, and found its prisons full of men whose offences were 
purely imaginary, and who were treated with extreme harsh- 
ness. He estimated that there were twelve thousand political 
prisoners in Naples, and his published letter upon their condi- 
tion created a commotion in Europe. King Bomba died in 
1859, but under his weak and incapable son, Francis II., abso- 
lutism still flourished. Only force could overthrow it. The 



86 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

Bourbon line that reigned over Naples and Sicily did not 
know the meaning of progress. 

But force was soon brought to bear. The liberation of 
Lombardy filled the oppressed population of South Italy with 
hope. In April, 1860, the people of Palermo and Messina rose 
in rebellion. They were put down, but their movement at- 
tracted attention and brought them assistance. On May 6 
Garibaldi sailed from Genoa with over a thousand volunteers 
to assail the Bourbon tyranny. Arriving at Sicily, he easily 
found fresh recruits, and his forces were soon swelled to four 
thousand. Palermo and Messina fell into his hands. Sicily 
was free ; it remained to deliver Naples also. Crossing into 
Italy, he rapidly pushed his way to King Francis's capital. 
Everywhere he was hailed as a conqueror. The Neapolitan 
garrisons surrendered to him. Nothing barred his triumphal 
progress. Even the King fled before him, and in three weeks 
he was in Naples. 

At the beginning of Garibaldi's expedition the position of 
the Sardinian Government was a trying one. Victor Emmanu.el 
and Cavour (whose retirement from office had been brief) could 
not give it open encouragement, for it was directed against a 
friendly power. Yet they could not thwart or hinder it with- 
out offending the whole body of Italian patriots. Great was 
their relief, therefore, when the expedition proved completely 
successful. As soon as the overthrow of the Neapolitan Gov- 
ernment seemed certain, Victor Emmanuel put himself at the 
head of the movement and assumed the direction of it. At 
the head of his army he hastened to the scene of action. Gari- 
baldi loyally recognized his sovereign's authority, gave every- 
thing into his hands, and retired to his ht)me on the island of 
Caprera. With a considerable army to support him, Victor Em- 
manuel at once assumed the aggressive. The forces of King 
Francis were ranged beyond the Volturno River. Victor Em- 
manuel drove them before him and forced King Francis to take 
refuge in the fortress of Gaeta. In that stronghold the fallen 
King held out bravely for three months. But provisions and 
ammunitions failed him, and fever assailed his garrison. On 
February 13, 1861, he capitulated. The kingdom of Naples 
and Sicily was at an end. 

Thus all Italy, excepting Venetia and the States of the 



PART I ITALY 87 

Church, had passed under the rule of Victor Emmanueh A 
National Parliament was therefore assembled at Turin in 
February, 1861, and by its consent Victor Emmanuel took the 
title "■ King of Italy." That the whole peninsula would in time 
be united into one kingdom now seemed certain. The logic 
of events pointed strongly to this consummation of the long 
strugg;le for freedom. But meanwhile there was crying need 
of eflfi-cnent and progressive administration in the states already 
wrested from despotic rule. For as yet unity and nationality 
existed chiefly in name. The Italians needed to grow one in 
their ideas of law, of democratic government, of education, 
and of civilization in all its highest phases. Only a most 
enlightened conduct of affairs could effect so radical a change ; 
and to just this end Cavour now devoted all his energies. His 
abilities were equal to the task ; his strength was not. Even 
while he was planning extensive reforms in finance, education, 
local administration, and all departments of government, he 
was suddenly attacked by an illness that proved fatal. He 
died on June 6, 1861, in the fifty-first year of his age. All Italy 
mourned his death, and Victor Emmanuel felt that he had met 
with an irreparable loss. Cavour was one of the greatest states- 
men of the century, and to him more than to any one person 
must belong the glory of accomplishing the unity of Italy. 
Yet the share which others took in this great achievement 
should not be forgotten. Had Victor Emmanuel been as weak 
and impractical as his father, Charles Albert, Cavour's task 
would have been wellnigh hopeless. There would have been 
no central figure to give direction to the movement for unity. 
Nor are the efforts of Mazzini and Garibaldi to be lightly 
valued. Mazzini forced all Europe to note the wrongs of his 
country ; and Garibaldi's heroic enterprise hastened the inevi- 
table downfall of the Neapolitan tyranny. 

Cavour was succeeded by Baron Bettino Ricasoli, a siktes- 
man of Tuscany, who had clone much to bring that duchy imder 
Victor Emmanuel's rule, and who possessed great strength of 
mind and character. His administration was marked by energy 
and wise diplomacy, but was soon undermined by Rattazzi, a 
man of inferior ability and far less steadiness of purpose. Rat- 
tazzi was now elevated to power, but very soon there came a 
situation which demonstrated his lack of far-seeing statesman- 



THE LATIN NATIONS 



ship. Garibaldi could not keep quiet on his island of Caprera. 
In 1862 he organized an expedition against Rome with a view 
to adding the States of the Church to Victor Emmanuel's posses- 
sions. Rattazzi should have foreseen that the movement would 
give offence to Napoleon, and should have thwarted it in its 
very beginning. For Napoleon, to the end of his reign, main- 
tained the temporal sovereignty of the Pope. But Rattazzi 
adopted the policy of non-interference. The expedition was 
allowed to start forth ; but no sooner had it done so than the 
Sardinian Government was peremptorily required by Napoleon 
to render it powerless. Rattazzi was obliged to comply with 
this demand. The red shirts were captured at Aspromonte 
by their own countrymen. Garibaldi himself was severely 
wounded, and after his recovery retired once more to the 
island of Caprera. Naturally, he considered himself ill-used, 
and Italy agreed with him. Rattazzi was censured for his 
irresolute conduct and forced to resign. 

In 1867 Garibaldi made another expedition against Rome, 
only to be balked again by French interference. But his 
effort, futile though it was in regard to the main end in view, 
had the happy effect of freeing Rome from foreign soldiery. 
Napoleon, partly in compliance with a request made by Queen 
Victoria, now withdrew the troops that he had kept at Rome 
to protect the Pope against popular uprisings. But he made 
it plain that any attempt to despoil the Pope of his posses- 
sions would cause the speedy reappearance of a French army. 

Against the determined opposition of so powerful a mon- 
arch, further revolutionary outbreaks seemed hopeless. But 
already the day had begun to dawn when revolution would be 
no longer necessary. The victorious career of Prussia was 
destined to accomplish what Garibaldi failed to achieve by 
petty onslaught. Venetia had been won before he raised the 
banner of insurrection in 1867. For in the preceding year the 
combined efforts of Italy and Prussia had humbled Austria 
and compelled her to retire from Italian soil. True, Italy's 
part in the grand war drama was not well played. Through 
the wretched management of their general, Victor Emmanuel's 
forces were beaten at Custozza, even as Charles Albert's had 
been in 1848. Nor were the Italians any more successful upon 
the sea. But the crushing defeat of the Austrians at Konig- 



PAKT I ITALY 89 

gratz ended the war ; and in dictating terms Prussia did not 
forget her gallant though vanquished ally. And very soon 
came the disaster at Sedan in 1870, and the collapse of the 
French Empire. No longer could the Pope rely on the protec- 
tion of foreign bayonets, for the Government newly established 
at Paris refused to uphold him. So Victor Emmanuel took quiet 
and undisputed possession of the States of the Church. The 
long struggle for freedom and unity was over. 

There were, it is true, some Italians still under Austrian 
rule. Those in Istria and the Tyrol looked longingly to the 
new kingdom of which they could not make a part ; and from 
time to time the cry of Italia irredenta (Italy unredeemed) rose 
from fervent patriots. But this cry did not rouse the nation 
at large. Italy was well satisfied with what had been achieved. 
In the whole Italian peninsula only the little republic of San 
Marino remained independent of Victor Emmanuel's sway. 

Having secured her freedom, Italy was anxious to maintain 
it. To the north of her stood France and Prussia, facing each 
other with anger and bitter hatred. What injury they might 
inflict upon her if they should engage in conflict was a serious 
problem. That one of these powers would cripple her in case 
of war, in order to prevent her from taking sides in the quarrel, 
seemed not impossible ; and fuli protection against the contin- 
gency was considered necessary. So in 1882 Italy united with 
Germany and Austria to form the Triple Alliance. But that 
she was wise in doing so is by no means certain. The league of 
these three strong nations undoubtedly helps to preserve the 
peace of Europe. The combination is too powerful to be as- 
sailed. But the Alliance makes it necessary for Italy to main- 
tain a considerable army, and the burden of taxation thus 
engendered occasions serious discontent.^ Many believe that 
Italy should rely for protection upon her geographical jDosi- 
tion, and should allow the northward nations to fight their 
own battles. 

King Victor Emmanuel died in 1878, deeply mourned by the 
whole nation. His share in the work of unity and liberation 
has not been forgotten. His statue is to be seen in more than 
one Italian city, and from time to time is adorned with wreaths 

^ It is not, however, the maintenance of the army that causes the heaviest 
financial burdens. See p. 92. 



90 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

by a grateful people.' His son, who succeeded him as Hum- 
bert IV., has many of the traits that distinguished Victor 
Emmanuel himself. Brave in battle,^ a sincere patriot, a lover 
of his people, and a liberal and progressive ruler, he is deeply 
beloved by his subjects. The censure with which he is some- 
times visited is directed against his royal office rather than 
himself. For some of the rabid Socialists hate the very name 
of king.^ 

Under the rule of King Humbert, Italy has continued to 
make progress in many directions. She has had the guidance 
of liberal statesmen, such as Depretis and Crispi, the latter of 
whom has proved himself a very strong and able leader. He 
was a member of the first Italian Parliament in 1861, and 
ever since has been a foremost figure in the Constitutional 
party. In 1887 he succeeded Depretis as head of the Cabinet, 
and remained in power till 1891, when his Ministry was de- 
feated. He was succeeded by the Marquis di Rudini, who 
represented the Conservatives ; and Crispi became the head of 
the opposition. But the new Ministry did not long command 
the confidence of the country, and Crispi was again called to 
power in 1894, only to be overthrown in 1896 by the defeat of 
the Italian army in Abyssinia. Accordingly, the Marquis di 
Rudini was again made the head of the Ministry, and by 
granting concessions to the Republicans and Socialists, who 
gained ground in the elections of 1897, he maintained himself 
in power until May, 1898. But now arose a serious political 
crisis, which the Ministry proved unable to meet. For owing 
to the high prices of breadstuffs, there was much suffering 
among the peasantry all over Italy, and serious riots occurred 

1 An equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel was unveiled at Florence on Sep- 
tember 20, 1890. On October 6, 1891, three thousand citizens of Naples caused 
a monstrous floral wreath to be placed at the foot of the statue of Victor 
Emmanuel in that city. 

2 He took part in the battle of Custozza in 18(j6 and showed conspicuous 
gallantry. 

3 On December 18, 1896, when it was proposed in the Chamber of Deputies 
to allow the Crown Prince .$200,000 yearly because of his recent marriage, 
Signer Costa, a well-known Socialist, denounced the monarchy as a useless 
and dangerous institution. This view, though not generally shared, seems to 
be spreading, and King Humbert is undoubtedly losing ground. He lacks 
self-assertion, and does nothing to help the nation out of its difficulties and 
embarrassments. 



PART I ITALY 91 

in many of the towns and cities.' They were largely fomented 
by the Radicals and Socialists, and in some provinces they 
assumed such a formidable character that the military were 
called out, and the most insubordinate districts were placed in 
a state of siege. To quiet the agitation the import duty on 
corn was temporarily removed ; but the Ministry could not 
cope with the difficulties that faced it. The Marquis di 
Rudini had endeavored to cooperate with the Republicans, but 
he did not fairly represent advanced Liberal opinions, and was 
unable to command the confidence of the disaffected elements 
in the kingdom. Moreover, the Cabinet was so divided that 
the Marquis found it necessary to place the resignations of its 
several members in the hands of the King. Requested by the 
King to form another Ministry, he succeeded in doing so ; but 
he soon found that he could not command a majority in the 
Chamber of Deputies, and gave way to General Pelloux. 
After holding office for a year, the new Prime Minister was 
forced to resign on account of a complication in the far East, 
the Government having demanded of China the cession of the 
port of San-Mun, and other rights which the Chinese were 
unwilling to grant. But General Pelloux was asked by the 
king to form a new Ministry, and though the task was a diffi- 
cult one, he finally succeeded in composing a Cabinet which 
commanded the confidence of the country ; for some of the 
ablest and most respected political leaders of the kingdom 
were among its members. 

Under these different Liberal leaders, Italy, though still 
struggling under heavy burdens, has reached a condition which 
is in striking contrast to the misery and lethargy that marked 
the days of despotism. Education has been made compulsory 
for children from six to nine years old; new and improved 
methods of agriculture have been encouraged ; friendly rela- 
tions with the Vatican have usually been maintained ; and a 
vigorous though questionable colonial policy has been adopted. 
Considerable tracts have been acquired in Africa, chiefly 
along the border of the Red Sea. The Italian possessions in 
this region stretch along the shore of the Red Sea for 670 
miles, and the entire colonial district goes under the name of 

1 To understand the situation at this time, consult the Nation, 66 : 378, 
402, 458. 



92 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

Erythraea. In 1 889 Abyssinia was made an Italian protecto- 
rate by King Menelek II. ; but when the Italian troops advanced 
from Erythraea in 1895, Menelek did not prove true to his 
agreement. Without warning he appeared with his army to 
resist the Italians, and he inflicted a severe defeat upon them 
at Ambalagi on December 8. Reenforcements were immedi- 
ately sent out by the Italian Government ; but the officer in 
command. General Baratieri, did not act with sufficient caution 
against his fierce and determined antagonists. On February 
29 a portion of his army was almost annihilated by the 
Abyssinians, the loss in killed and wounded amounting to nine 
thousand men. All Italy was excited by the disaster. A de- 
sire to avenge the defeat took deep possession of the national 
mind ; and Menelek's own attitude did not tend to allay this 
feeling. For in proposing terms of peace he made large and 
uncompromising demands which Italy could not accept with- 
out humiliation. But as time passed, a calmer and probably a 
wiser view of the situation prevailed with the Italian Govern- 
ment. In October, 1896, it agreed upon a treaty with Menelek 
by which the Italians held as prisoners by the Abyssinians 
were released, and the question of a frontier for the Italian 
Colony was left open for further negotiation. More than this, 
a sentiment began to show itself in the Ministry in favor of 
abandoning Erythraea altogether, and expending all the ener- 
gies of the Government upon strengthening the nation at home. 

And certainly the question of administrative reform is for 
Italy an all-absorbing one. The country is poor,^ and it is 
poor because, in spite of the progress that has been made, it is 
still badly governed. The taxation made necessary by main- 
taining a considerable standing army is supposed to be the 
chief financial burden which the nation carries. But this is a 
mistake. A vicious civil service is the principal cause of 
Italy's poverty. The Government maintains a far greater 
number of officials than it needs, for a clamorous horde of 
politicians insists upon being supported by the public purse. 
And among these officials there is no sense of responsibility. 
They look upon the Government as existing for their benefit. 
They make the burden of taxation very heavy for the poor 
and very light for the rich. And in the construction of public 

1 See North American Review, 167 : 126 ; and LittelVs Living Age, 218 : 89. 



PART I ITALY 93 

works similar dishonest practices are common. If a railway- 
is to be built by the Government the contractor is not held to 
a definite agreement. He undertakes to construct it for a 
certain sum which he considers sufficient, but if the sum is 
exhausted before the work is completed, the Government grants 
him as much more money as he finds necessary. Nor are the 
railroads which are owned by the State managed upon business 
principles. It is estimated that as many as forty per cent of 
the passengers jjay no fares. ^ 

Inefficient administration, lack of capital, and lack of enter- 
prise keep Italy poor. Many of the peasants are in comfort- 
able circumstances, for poverty is by no means universal among 
the lower classes of the country. But most are satisfied with 
moderate savings. The desire to acquire wealth is not com- 
monly found j hence capital is very slowly accumulated, and 
the natural resources of the country are not as productive as 
they should be. Business energy and a spirit of venture are 
greatly needed. 

Freedom and self-government, therefore, have not yet eman- 
cipated Italy from mediaeval conceptions of government and 
life. The stamp of despotism has not been wholly removed. 
Yet wonderful progress has been made since the tyrannies 
that so long crippled the energies of the people were shaken 
off. Education and free institutions are slowly but surely 
bringing Italy into touch with the modern world. Even the 
vices of civilization are finding a home on Italian soil. The 
Socialists and the Anarchists are trying to convert the peas- 
antry to their views,^ and the riots of 1898 are sufficient to 
show that their labors are not wholly without fruit. But they 
do not succeed in causing widespread discontent. The working 
classes of Italy are gaining in comfort, in education, and in self- 
respect. That their condition Avill still greatly improve is 
doubted by those who believe that the Latin races are declin- 
ing. But the optimist has as much use as the pessimist in 
politics. A people that has won freedom and unity by per- 
sistent and heroic effort may yet win national greatness and 
prosperity. 

1 The above facts are taken from a letter to the Nation, published in the 

issue for June 25, 18%. 

2 For Socialism in Italy see Presbyterian and Reformed Review, 8 : 108. 



94 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

Italy has an area of 110,623 square miles and a population 
of about 31,000,000. It is a constitiitional monarchy, the Gov- 
ernment being vested in a King and a l^ational Parliament. 
The powers of the King are almost entirely executive. Theo- 
retically he is vested with certain rights in the way of making 
treaties, declaring war, issuing decrees, appointing officers, and 
dissolving the Chamber of Deputies. But he exercises these 
rights, not with entire freedom and merely as his own judg- 
ment dictates, but only as his ministers advise and as the 
Chamber of Deputies makes known its will.^ The Upper 
House of legislation is a Senate of about 400 members, most 
of whom are appointed by the King for life from the bishops, 
high officials, deputies who have served three terms or six 
years, members of the Eoyal Academy of Science of seven 
years' standing, wealthy tax-payers, and those who have ren- 
dered distinguished service to the State. The remaining 
senators are the royal princes who are twenty -one years of age. 
The Lower legislative House is the Chamber of Deputies, the 
members of which are 508 in number and are chosen by a 
limited suffrage. To vote one must pass certain educational 
tests which are severe enough to deprive large numbers of the 
franchise. But as elementary education is now compulsory, 
the suffrage, even under the present law, will in time become 
extensive, though hardly universal. Money bills must proceed 
from the Lower House ; otherwise the two Houses have equal 
legislative powers. The depiities are chosen for five years, 
but the Chamber is usually dissolved by the King before its 
full term has expired. It chooses its own president. Both 
senators and deputies travel free, but receive no other 
emolument. 

The business of Government is transacted by a Cabinet of 
nine ministers, who have the right to attend the debates of both 
the Upper and the Lower House, but not to vote. 

The judicial system is not thoroughly well constructed. There 
are five supreme courts, termed Courts of Cassation ; but they 
are independent of each other and have equal powers. Thus 
there is nothing to prevent inconsistent and contradictory de- 
cisions. In the lower courts the judges are not sufficiently free 
from political control. 

1 " Governments and Parties of Continental Europe," II. 52. 



PART I . • ITALY 95 

There is no recognized State religion in Italy, though its popu- 
lation is almost entirely Catholic. All forms of worship and 
belief are tolerated, Italy being more progressive in this respect 
than Spain. 

Owing to bad and inefficient administration the finances of 
the country are in a very unsatisfactory condition. The debt 
is above $2,500,000,000, and is constantly increasing, for there 
are frequent deficits.^ The yearly expenditure is considerably 
above $300,000,000, and this is a large sum for so poor a country 
to raise, although the government derives a considerable reve- 
nue from posts, railways, telegraphs, and other branches of pub- 
lic service. Yet Italy's financial prospects are by no means 
gloomy. Commerce is growing, imports and exports continu- 
ally increase. Silk, wine, olive oil, fruit, and other productions 
bring large returns ; and as the resources of the country are de- 
veloped, the export trade will show a corresponding growth. 
When the government is administered on purely business 
principles, as in time it certainly will be, the task of making 
income and expenditure meet will be no longer difficult. 

1 This unsound financial condition was greatly improved by Baron Sonnino 
while he was Minister of the Treasury under Crispi, 1893 to 1896. For an 
account of his policy consult the " Annual Register," for 1895, p. 253; or the 
Nation, 69:30. How grave the financial situation was when Baron Sonnino 
took charge of the Treasury is shown in the Contemporary Review, 65 : 496. 



CHAPTER VI 

SPAIN 

No country shows more strikingly than Spain that national 
power and greatness are dependent upon national progress. 
The Spaniards are a brave people. They wrested their lost 
territory from the Moors with a vigorous hand, and, under 
Ferdinand and Isabella, the conquest was made complete. 
These two powerful sovereigns united Aragon and Castile, and 
brought all Spain under their sway ; but even at this time 
was made the fatal mistake which sapped Spain of her strength 
and gradually robbed her of her dominions. For these raon- 
archs inaugurated a narrow and repressive religious policy; 
they persecuted the Moors and Jews, gave free rein to the 
Inquisition, and frowned upon free and liberal thought. The 
same course was pursued by subsequent monarchs. Scientific 
research was utterly discouraged ; the minds of the people were 
enslaved by ignorance and superstition. Hence, even the 
power and splendor attained under Charles V. in the sixteenth 
century was but a deceitful index of the country's strength. 
Under his son, Philip II., Spain's greatness began to decline. 
This bigoted monarch was defeated in his contest with the 
Netherlands ; and, though he succeeded in repressing heresy, 
so-called, in Spain itself, he did so at the cost of national vigor 
and independent thinking. Spain was becoming self-satisfied, 
enervated, indolent. Her vast possessions in America brought 
her immense revenues ; but these very revenues disinclined her 
people to the discipline of arduous daily toil. Still further 
was their industrial energy diminished by the expulsion of the 
Moors in 1609, in the reign of the feeble-minded Philip III. 
And now the decline of the kingdom was rapid and almost 
unbroken for over a hundred years. It was shorn of exten- 
sive possessions, distracted by civil wars, reduced in popula- 

96 



PART I SPAIN 97 

tion, and oppressed by poverty. Its armies, which had once 
been the most formidable in Europe, no longer seemed able to 
win a victory. A better state of things prevailed under the 
French Prince who reigned as Philip IV. from 1701 to 1746. 
Although this ruler had much difRculty in making good his 
title to the throne, he used his power, after he had once 
secured it, to encourage art and commerce. And the same 
spirit of enterprise and progress characterized his grandson, 
Charles III. Under him religious bigotry was held in check, 
and agriculture, commerce, and industry revived. But he did 
not carry the people with him in his efforts to introduce 
reform. They had lived so long in an atmosphere of intellec- 
tual darkness that they preferred ease to progress. So, after 
the death of Philip in 1788, the kingdom lost what it had 
gained ; and the dawn of the nineteenth century found it 
effete, unprogressive, and ridden by superstition. Its mon- 
arch, Charles IV., was bigoted and dull ; his councillors were 
illiberal ; his policy was feeble. 

Spain, therefore, could hardly be expected to lead in the 
great democratic movement of the century. It were much if 
she joined it at all after so many centuries of ill-directed 
national effort. But join the movement she did, and her sym- 
pathy with democratic principles was not long in showing 
itself. The blunders and the incapacity of Charles IV. occa- 
sioned a revolution in 1808, and Ferdinand VII., the Prince of 
the Asturias, was temporarily placed upon the throne. But 
both Ferdinand and Charles were forced to abdicate by Napo- 
leon, who had for some time had his eye on Spain, and who 
desired to use the country for his own ambitious purposes. 
He elevated his brother Joseph to the throne, convened an 
assembly of Americans and Spaniards, and caused a new Con- 
stitution to be prepared. This was the first written Constitu- 
tion that Spain had ever received, and Napoleon undoubtedly 
hoped that it would win the support of the Spanish Liberals 
and weaken the opposition to his brother's reign. But in 
these hopes he was utterly disappointed. The more progres- 
sive and enlightened Spaniards were indeed desirous of obtain- 
ing self-government; for even in this bigoted country the 
principles of the French Revokition seemed to be finding 
their way. But the people had no mind to receive their 



98 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

rights as the gift of a foreigner. In the Constitution which 
Napoleon had granted them they took no interest whatever; 
and in Joseph Bonaparte they saw, not a constitutional sover- 
eign, but the mere tool of a usurping tyrant. Consequently, 
instead of conciliating the Spanish people by his meaningless 
concessions, Napoleon roused their bitter hatred by his unwar- 
rantable interference with their affairs, and brought on that 
long and sanguinary struggle in which the French armies were 
finally routed by Wellington and his zealous Spanish allies. 
Joseph Bonaparte fled from Madrid on August 11, 1812. By 
November, 1813, Spanish soil was entirely free from French 
invasion, and shortly after this, Napoleon, in the treaty of Va- 
lencay, yielded all claim to Spanish territory. 

So Ferdinand VII. was now free to take possession of the 
kingdom of which he had been so summarily deprived; but 
though he had originally been summoned to the throne 
because of the narrow and unpatriotic conduct of Charles IV., 
he did not show himself a liberal and enlightened ruler. He 
was restored to the throne as a constitutional sovereign ; for 
in 1812, not long before the expulsion of the French, the 
Spanish Cortes had taken a decided step toward popular gov- 
ernment by framing a new Constitution. But on reentering 
the kingdom in 1814, Ferdinand issued a proclamation annul- 
ling the Constitution and reasserting the ancient rights of the 
Spanish monarch. And in taking this step he did not awaken 
serious opposition or widespread protest. The Cortes freely 
resisted him, but the country as a whole approved of his 
action. For the truth was, Spain was by no means ready for 
popular government. The Liberal movement had a good deal 
of strength in the cities, especially those upon the sea-coast ; 
but the rural population were under the influence of the 
priests, and were averse to seeing the power of the King and 
of 1*he privileged classes curtailed. Moreover, the Constitu- 
tion itself was far from being a perfect document. It did 
indeed contain many excellent provisions. It took away from 
the King the right of absolute veto ; it gave the Cortes the 
power to make war and peace, organize the army, and appoint 
high officers and judges; and it recommended trial by jury, 
though it did not actually provide for it. No wonder that 
these admirable features created more than one movement in 



PART 1 SPAIN 99 

its favor during subsequent years. But it did violence to 
time-honored institutions; it did not respect the rights of 
landowners; and it authorized measures to curtail the rev- 
enues of the Church and to suppress the convents. Hence the 
nobles, the priests, and the peasantry, who would countenance 
no assault upon the priesthood, all united in opposing it. 

Under these circumstances Ferdinand was able to set aside 
the Constitution with impunity, especially as he declaimed 
fiercely against despotism and promised to assemble the repre- 
sentatives of the people in a Cortes as soon as possible. These 
promises meant absolutely nothing, for Ferdinand was an 
arch dissembler and never kept his word unless compelled; 
but they deceived the people, who greeted him with enthu- 
siasm, and made his journey to Madrid a triumphal march. 
But, once established in power, he soon made his true char- 
acter apparent. Placing himself under the narrowest influ- 
ences, he drove many of the most liberal men of the kingdom 
into exile, reestablished the Inquisition, and restored the same 
unenlightened and deadening rule that had brought Spain 
from greatness to degradation. Under this feeble regime the 
two Floridas were sold in 1819 to the United States and 
Mexico, and the South American Colonies, which had revolted 
while Spain was at war with France, succeeded in gaining 
their independence. But the ineffective measures taken to 
suppress the Colonies angered the Spanish armies. Early in 
1820 an insurrection broke omt among the soldiers; the Con- 
stitution of 1812 was proclaimed ; and Ferdinand, alarmed at 
the formidable character of the outbreak, granted all demands 
and swore to support the Constitution. Accordingly, the 
Cortes, or legislative body, was convened on July 9 of this 
same year. 

But Spain was still far from being ready for representative 
government. As was the case in 1814, the clergy were opposed 
to reforms, and the people sympathized with the clergy rather 
than with the Liberal party. So the Liberals had almost 
everything against them. The King, though he still remained 
true to his oath, thoroughly disliked them ; the vast wealth 
and influence of the Church was opposed to them ; the people 
gave them little assistance. Unable to maintain their hold 
upon the King without exciting civil war, they still refused to 



100 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

. — ♦ — ■ 

abandon their principles. In 1821 the two opposing parties 
came into armed conflict ; and at first, in spite of all the forces 
arrayed against them, the Liberals were successful through 
the support they received from the soldiery. But when a 
French army of one hundred thousand men was sent against 
them in 1823 at the dictate of the Holy Alliance, they were 
obliged to give way. The cause of absolutism won a com- 
plete triumph. King Ferdinand was now entirely dominated 
by the narrowest clerical influence. He allowed the Liberals 
to be persecuted dtod put to death, and the Inquisition to be 
restored. He did not even resent the presence of the French 
troops who remained in the country till 1827 to make the 
power of the clerical party secure. 

But not even by this subserviency did Ferdinand fully satisfy 
the clergy. They washed a king who would rule solely for the 
good of the Church, and they therefore conspired to give the 
throne to Don Carlos, the younger brother of Ferdinand, and 
the very personification of absolutism and religious bigotry. 
•This attempt resulted in another civil war, which, though it 
did not prove serious, added to the miseries and the already 
heavy financial burdens of the country. But in 1830 the Carlist 
movement became more formidable. For in that year Ferdi- 
nand VII. issued a pragmatic sanction setting aside the Salic 
Law, and thus making it possible for his infant daughter, who 
was born October 10, 1830, to succeed to the throne. Whether or 
not the King had a right to issue such a decree is a disputed 
question.^ Don Carlos and his followers protested that the 
decree was entirely illegal ; and when Ferdinand died in 1833, 
and the Queen, Maria Christina, claimed the right to govern 
in behalf of her infant davighter, Isabella, they raised the 
standard of insurrection. As they stood for intolerance and 
despotism, the Queen Regent, much against her own inclina- 
tion, was obliged to adopt the Liberal cause. All the more 
was this step necessary because the Carlists were ably led and 
at first seemed likely to be successful. Their general, Zuma- 
lacarregui, showed himself a prodigy of energy and valor. 

1 The question of the pragmatic sanction is ably considered by Caleb 
dishing in a despatch sent to the United States Government on December 2, 
1875, while the second Carlist insurrection was in progress. (" Foreign Rela- 
tions for 1875-76," pp. 442^45.) A brief abridgment of the paper may be 
found in Currie's " Constitutional Government in Spain," p. 151.'. 



PART I SPAIN 101 

He seemed ubiquitous, so rapid were his movements ; and his 
presence on the battle-fiekl often brought victory to the Carlist 
banners. Unfortunately for the cause of the insurgents, he 
was killed in 1835.^ The Queen Regent was therefore com- 
pelled to conciliate the Liberals at any cost. Without their 
support her cause would have been hopeless. So she granted 
a new Constitution in 1834, abolished the Inquisition, and ex- 
pelled the Jesuits. But even these concessions were not suffi- 
cient. Although the peasants were still opposed to reform, 
Liberal ideas were gaining ground in the centres of education 
and culture. The cities clamored for modern institutions and 
Liberal government. To resist their demands was dangerous. 
The Liberal army was possessed by the spirit of progress, and 
was ready to revolt if only meagre and halfway measures of 
reform were adopted. Accordingly, in 1837, Maria Christina 
reluctantly granted a new and still more liberal Constitution. 
By this means the Queen Regent uiiited the Liberals around 
her and ultimately secured the throne for her daughter Isabella. 
Her general, Espartero, conducted the campaign against the 
Carlists with ability and vigor. Taking advantage of dissen- 
sions which showed themselves in the Carlist forces, he broke 
their power and brought the insurrection to an end. Don 
Carlos himself saw that his cause was lost, and abandoned the 
conflict. By the summer of 1840 the supremacy of Maria 
Christina was fully established. 

But the Queen Regent belonged to the royal family of Naples, 
and in that stronghold of tyranny she had acquired an insuper- 
able aversion to popular government. Forced to adopt Liberal 
principles for self-preservation, she abandoned them the moment 
she thought her power secure. Without actually annulling the 
new Constitution, she continually violated its provisions and 
aroused the open opposition of the Liberals. In the very year 
in which her victory over Don Carlos was made complete, she 
was obliged to relinquish the throne and seek refuge in France. 
As Isabella was not yet old enough to reign, Espartero was 
made Regent by the Corces on May 8, 1841. But, though pos- 
sessed of undoubted abilities and actuated by Liberal views, Es- 
partero had from the first no chance of maintaining himself in 

1 For the far-reaching power and influence of Zumalacarregui, consult 
"The Revolutions of Spain," by W. W. Walton, Vol. II. Ch. XV. 



102 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

power. The Spaniards are, perhaps, the proudest and haugh- 
tiest race in the world. Fettered by tradition and exulting in 
the achievements of their more illustrious rulers, they have an 
unbounded respect for royalty and all its pomp and prestige. 
Only to royalty and to the Church will they render homage. 
Ko matter how intrinsically good and efficient a rule may be, 
if it is not invested with princely splendor it will fail to com- 
mand obedience. Repiiblican ideas have made some headway 
in Spain, but they have not made sufficient headway to dispel 
the glamour of the mitre and the crown. It was in vain, there- 
fore, that Espartero governed the country wisely, encouraged 
trade and commerce, and furthered internal improvements. 
He raised up enemies ; Maria Christina organized conspiracies 
against him ; and on July 26, 1843, he resigned his office. To 
him, as to many other victims of revolutionary agitation, the 
hospitable shores of England seemed inviting. In that country 
he lived quietly for many years till recalled by his sovereign 
to meet a threatening crisis. 

Left for a time without a head, Spain was once more torn by 
dissension and intrigue. Settled peace seemed impossible for 
this unhappy country. And this was only the natural result 
of an unprogressive past. The people had never had the slight- 
est training in the principles of self-government. They could 
blindly obey the authority of King and Church, but they did 
not know or understand the importance of bowing to the will 
of the majority and of acknowledging established rule. Hence 
anarchy and discord arose whenever the smallest opportunity 
offered. As in other European countries where despotism had 
reigned for centuries, the growth of democratic ideas occasioned 
successive throes of conflict. The sanguinary scenes of the 
French Revolution were not indeed repeated on Spanish soil ; 
but Spain paid for its four centuries of darkness and supersti- 
tion by a long period of alarms and civil discord. No sooner 
had Espartero retired from the country than the party of prog- 
ress and the followers of Maria Christina engaged in bloody 
conflicts. To quiet these disturbances the Cortes, on November 
8, 1843, proclaimed Isabella, now in her fourteenth year, to be 
of age. Three years later, on October 10, 1846, the young Queen 
was married to Francis of Assisi, and her sister Luisa was at 
the same time united to the Duke of Montpensier — these being 



PART I SPAIN 103 

the famous Spanish Marriages which occasioned so much un- 
favorable comment against Louis Philippe among the courts of 
Europe.^ But however reasonable such criticism may have 
been, the marriage of Isabella to the infant Francis brought lit- 
tle benefit either to France or to Spain. The latter country did 
not grow quiet under its new ruler. Maria Christina was un- 
wisely recalled from France soon after Isabella's reign began, 
and her presence always fomented discord. Nor did Isabella 
herself prove more competent to manage the affairs of the rest- 
less and distracted nation. For though she did not allow her 
mother to rule her, she became estranged from her husband and 
made her court a seat of profligacy and intrigue. For more 
than ten years after her accession to the throne the country 
submitted to her corrupt and inefficient sway, and saw Cabinet 
after Cabinet go down from lack of royal support and a con- 
sistent policy. But in 1854 the discontent which had been in- 
creasing under this condition of affairs found expression in a 
formidable insurrection. Its seat was in the military, who made 
General O'Donnell their leader, and demanded that the Consti- 
tution of 1837 be restored and that Maria Christina be ban- 
ished from the country. To this demand Isabella was obliged 
to submit, and there is reason to believe that to the provi- 
sion which called for her mother's removal her approval was 
not unwillingly given. If there was to be intrigue, she herself 
wished to be the author and the centre of it. Therefore, see- 
ing that the restoration of order called for a vigorous hand, she 
recalled Espartero from England, and put him at the head of 
affairs. With prompt decision he sent Maria Christina back 
into France, and secured for the country a short period of in- 
ternal peace and tranquillity. But settled order was impossi- 
ble under a ruler whose favorites were bigoted and vicious, and 
who used her sovereign power chiefly to minister to her own 
personal pleasures. As before the recall of Espartero, Cabinets 
found themselves without the royal support and went down in 
rapid succession. Every year brought the Queen into greater 
disrepute and increased the disaffection of her subjects. Nor 
did Isabella strengthen herself by banishing the ablest gener- 
als and political leaders of the kingdom.- From their places 

1 Consult p. .S7. 

2 Even the Duke of Montpensier's exalted rank did not save him from 
being exiled. 



104 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

of exile these men intrigued against her, and finally brought 
about her overthrow. In 1868 she was obliged to yield to the 
storm that had long been gathering. All her enemies united 
against her and excited an insurrection. General Prim and Gen- 
eral Serrano returned from exile to lead the movement. It was 
indeed characteristic of Spanish politics that these men should 
be thus united in an enterprise which was after all largely per- 
sonal in character. For Republican ideas have not made suffi- 
cient progress in Spain to cause parties to be grouped by their 
political principles. True, we see Moderates, Progressists, Re- 
publicans, and Radicals playing their several parts all through 
the century. But these names by no means stand for fixed and 
clearly defined political parties. The man who is one day a 
Republican will the next day be a Conservative if personal in- 
terest so orders. For almost always in the political changes 
that take place in Spain the question of personal interest is 
dominant ; and even men of high aims and genuine patriotism 
become political adventurers from force of circumstances. The 
men who now joined to overthrow Isabella had not always 
worked together or belonged to the same party. Nor was it 
devotion to any common idea or principle that now united 
them. They all believed that the Queen's reign stood in the 
way of order and progress ; so they niade common cause in 
bringing her shameful rule to an end, without knowing what 
manner of government they should establish in place of it. 

And as matters developed this proved a very troublesome 
problem. Isabella abdicated on September 30, 1868, and, like 
her mother, withdrew to France, where she is still residing. 
As a prominent leader in the recent insurrection and a man of 
wide experience in war and politics, Serrano was made head of 
the provisional government that was now established. Like 
Espartero, Serrano proved himself a progressive administrator; 
unlike him, he did not devote his energies merely to furthering 
material prosperity. He showed his sympathy with liberal 
principles of government by bringing about the expulsion of 
the Jesuits and the confiscation of their property, granting lib- 
erty to the press, and causing a new Constitution to be submit- 
ted to the Cortes. The Constitution was adopted by that body 
and proclaimed on June 6, 1869, but it led ultimately to a new 
insurrection, for, though it recognized monarchy as the legiti- 



PART I SPAIN 105 

mate form of government, it also recognized that the royal 
power should be exercised through ministers responsible to the 
nation. This principle excited the opposition of the Carlists, 
and their dissatisfaction was greatly increased when Serrano 
was made Regent shortly after the new Constitution was pro- 
claimed. As the son of Don Carlos had renounced the rights 
of his line, the grandson of that defeated aspirant for royalty 
appeared as a pretender to the Spanish throne under the title 
of Carlos VII. His claim at once found recognition among the 
Carlists and the more bigoted of the clergy ; but the movement 
in his favor did not at first excite apprehension among the 
friends of the Constitution. Much more alarming seemed the 
insurrection in Cuba which broke out in 1868 as a result of 
the indignities suffered by its inhabitants at the hands of the 
Spanish Government. Not without much difficulty and serious 
loss of life was the uprising quelled. 

But though Spain was still a monarchy by the new Con- 
stitution, it had trouble in finding a king. Alfonso, son 
of Isabella, who was born November 28, 1857, was too young 
to be crowned, and his mother's evil courses created a preju- 
dice against him. As the Constitutionalists would not for a 
moment consider the claims of the grandson of Don Carlos, 
it became necessary to secure a foreign prince. The crown 
was first offered to Prince Leopold of Sigmaringen, and the 
[Franco-Prussian War was brought on in consequence, though 
the offer was declined. Better success attended the negotia- 
tions with Amadeus, the second son of King Victor Emmanuel. 
This prince consented to receive the crown and was elected 
King by the Cortes on November 16, 1870. Very soon setting 
out for Spain, he arrived there on December 30, only to be 
encountered by an inauspicious omen of a brief and troubled 
reign. For on the very day that he set foot in the country 
General Prim, who had done much to secure his election, was 
assassinated ; and the gloom created by this event seemed to 
follow the King throughout his stay in an alien land. Not 
possessing extraordinary force or vigor, he could not create 
a strong personal following. The Spaniards, resenting the 
rule of a foreigner, were cool and indifferent toward him, and 
the kingdom grew more and more restless under his feeble 
sway. Finally realizing that he could not win the allegiance 



106 THE LAXm NATIONS book i 

of the nation, he abdicated on February 11, 1873, and left the 
country. 

Equally futile was the attempt to establish a republic. One 
was indeed organized in the following September, with Emilio 
Castelar, a brilliant orator and expounder of republican prin- 
ciples, as its President. Bvit Castelar proved to be only a 
theorist. He had no practical sagacity, no grasp of detail. 
Under his loose and easy-going administration matters went 
from bad to worse. Disorder reigned ; the Carlist insurgents 
made great headway ; and early in 1874 the Republic fell to 
pieces from sheer impotency. So serious did the Carlist 
insurrection now become, that a decisive step toward the estab- 
lishment of order and constitutional government seemed neces- 
sary. The military, under the lead of General Martinez Campos, 
proved equal to the situation. On December 29, 1874, they 
proclaimed Isabella's son, Alfonso, King, and the youth of 
seventeen was soon at the head of the army. Defeated at 
first by the Carlists, he eventually succeeded in suppressing 
the insurrection and in winning the confidence of the nation. 
The Carlists abandoned the struggle in 1876. Thus the cause 
of constitutional monarchy was for the time being made 
secure. 

And still more secure did it seem to become as the young 
King gained in maturity and experience. For he had qualities 
that endeared him to his subjects, and he became a great favor- 
ite with the Spanish people. He had a pleasing address, a 
liberal and cultivated mind, and an affectionate nature. With 
the army he was extremely popular, for he was a splendid rider, 
and he devoted much time to the study of military tactics. 
The chivalrous Spaniards, moreover, were won by the story of 
his love, which had both a romantic and a tragic side. Deeply 
attached from boyhood to his young cousin, Maria de las Mer- 
cedes, the second daughter of the Duke of Montpensier, he 
resolutely refused to marry* any of the princesses whom his 
ministers, for reasons of State policy, commended to his notice. 
It was in vain that they objected to an alliance with the Mont- 
pensier family on the ground that the duke himself was 
unpopular and his daughter would be coldly welcomed by the 
Spanish people. Alfonso remained firm, and bore down all op- 
position by the loyalty of his affection. He married Mercedes 



PART I SPAIN 107 

in January, 1878, and so captivated were the Spanish by the 
charms and graces of the young Queen that the forebodings 
of the King's ministers proved to have been unfounded. Mer- 
cedes soon became as popular as the King himself. But only 
a short season of happiness was given to the royal lovers. The 
Queen died five months after her marriage, and the King 
mourned for her with a passionate grief which profoundly 
affected the nation. But he was not allowed to be wholly con- 
stant to his first and only love. The kingdom needed an heir, 
and in the summer of 1879 Alfonso was married to the Arch- 
duchess Maria Christina, niece of Francis Joseph, the Emperor 
of Austria. From this union came two daughters, Mercedes 
and Maria Teresa, and a son, Alfonso XIII., who was born on 
May 17, 1886, about five months after his father's death. 

Thus the kingdom had no male heir when Alfonso passed 
away, but in spite of this fact no uprising against the Govern- 
ment occurred. It seemed, therefore, that the cause of repre- 
sentative government and constitutional monarchy was gaining 
ground in Spain. Alfonso himself always maintained the lib- 
eral Constitution that was proclaimed on June 30, 1876 ; and 
for a number of years after his death its validity was not 
questioned. His widow, Maria Christina, was made Queen 
Regent by the Cortes, and, foreigner though she was, she won 
the respect of the Spanish people by her dignity, her devotion 
to the interests of the kingdom, and her steadfast adherence to 
the spirit of the Constitution. She gave a loyal support to the 
Cabinet, as Alfonso had done before her ; and the Conserva- 
tives and the Liberals succeeded each other without causing 
any upheavals or even grave crises in the kingdom. Each 
of these two great parties was headed by a remarkable 
man. Canovas del Castillo, the Conservative leader, was a 
pure-minded patriot, who always put the interests of the 
nation before those of self or party, and who, though averse to 
violent changes, was progressive rather than reactionary in 
temper and conduct. It was he who promoted the first meas- 
ure toward the abolition of the slave traffic in Cuba; and to 
religious toleration he always gave an iin wavering support. 
At critical periods he had powerfully strengthened the cause of 
constitutional monarchy, and the present Constitution of Spain 
is largely the product of his labors. A consistent friend 



108 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

of order, lie stoutly opposed the anarchists throughout the 
forty years of his public career, and it was this devotion to the 
cause of stable government that he paid for with his life. He 
was assassinated by an anarchist on August 8, 1897, at the 
very time when he was holding the helm of State and was strug- 
gling against perilous seas. The whole country mourned his 
death. Sagasta, the chief of the rival faction, was cast in a 
different mould. Adroitness has been his dominant trait 
through a long political career. Always astute, far-seeing, self- 
contained, and vigilant, he has guided his party with great 
ability in shifting and troublous times. But his shrewdness 
has been that of a statesman rather than that of a low and 
unscrupulous politician ; and his services to his country have 
been many and great. Under these leaders Spain seemed to 
make some internal progress both in Alfonso's reign and in the 
earlier years of Maria Christina's regency. Important steps 
were taken for the spread of elementary education, and the 
industrial arts were so far developed that Spain was able to 
make a creditable showing at the Paris Exposition of 1889. It 
may be added that universal suffrage was adopted in 1889, but 
whether this was a benefit in a country which still shows a 
high percentage of illiteracy is very doubtful. 

But in spite of internal quiet continued through many years, 
and in spite of measures that seemed to betoken a progressive 
spirit, Spain remained essentially unchanged. Her peasantry 
was unreasoning, ignorant, and superstitious, her finances were 
in disorder, her officials were corrupt and inefficient, and the 
whole nation seemed sinking into lethargy and decay. All 
this was made apparent by a series of events which took place 
in the closing years of the century, and revealed to the world 
Spain's wretched and impoverished condition. For in 1895 
there occurred an insurrection in Cuba which led to vast and 
unexpected results. That island had long been restive under 
Spanish rule, and in 1868 it began a war for independence 
which lasted for ten years. In 1878 the insurgents were 
induced to lay down their arms by the "Compromise of 
Zanyon," which was granted by the Spanish general, Mar- 
tinez "Campos, and which conceded to Cuba the same rights 
that were enjoyed by Porto Rico, besides other important 
privileges. But this Compromise brought the Cubans no 



PART I SPAIN 109 

relief. Its conditions were not fulfilled by the Spanish Gov- 
ernment, and Cuba continued to suffer from the rapacity and 
harshness of the Spanish officials. So heavily were the 
Cubans taxed and so outrageously were they governed that 
their hatred toward the Spaniards grew ever more intense 
and bitter till it found expression in the insurrection of 1895. 
This insurrection, like the earlier one of 18G8, the Spanish 
found it impossible to subdue by force. It was headed by 
Gomez and other leaders who had figured in the former move- 
ment, and these men, retiring to the mountains with their 
forces, waged a cunning and audacious warfare against their 
more numerous foes. Campos was again sent to Cuba, but so 
futile were his efforts against the insurgents that he was 
replaced by General Weyler, whose measures for suppressing 
the rebellion were both vigorous and cruel. He divided the 
island into three parts by trochas, or military lines consisting 
of small garrisoned forts connected by earthworks and barbed 
wire fences. In this way he hoped to keep the insurgents in 
the different parts of the island from communicating with each 
other and from working with a common purpose. But the 
Cubans passed and repassed the trochas with impunity, and 
Weyler seemed no nearer to suppressing the rebellion than his 
predecessor had been. When the Spaniards and the insurgents 
engaged in armed conflict, as frequently happened, the latter 
very often came off victorious ; and as the months and years 
wore away the strength of Spain was severely taxed in this 
seemingly interminable conflict. Altogether some two hundred 
thousand men were sent to Cuba to suppress the insurrection, 
and the cost of maintaining them impoverished the nation. As 
for the soldiers themselves, they were ill fed, ill paid, wasted by 
disease, and broken in spirit. Many of them were mere boys, 
who, against their own wishes and those of their kindred, were 
sent to face fever, starvation, and the bullets of the Cubans, 
and to return home sick and emaciated, if they were fortunate 
enough to return at all. 

The condition of affairs growing thus more desperate from 
day to day, General Weyler saw that the rebellion could only 
be put down by the most summary and uncompromising meas- 
ures. He therefore determined to bring the rebels to terms 
by depriving them of their means of support. He was well 



110 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

aware that the Cubans in the interior who did not bear arms 
themselves supplied the insurgents with food and other neces- 
saries. This class of non-combatants, accordingly, he forced 
into the fortified towns held by the Spaniards, in order that 
their farms and plantations might be deserted and might con- 
tribute nothing to the needs of the Cuban forces. But the 
ones who suffered from these cruel measures were the non- 
combatants themselves, who were termed " reconcentrados " 
after they were thus concentrated within the Spanish lines. No 
longer able to earn their own livelihood, and receiving no food 
or maintenance from the Spanish authorities, they soon began 
to die from starvation in great numbers. As many as four 
hundred thousand were brought into the towns by the order of 
General Weyler, which was issued on October 21, 1896. Before 
many months had passed half of them were dead or perish- 
ing, and there seemed to be no hope that the rest could long 
survive. 

But their sufferings did not go unnoticed. The American 
people had watched the insurrection in Cuba with deep interest 
from its first beginning in 1895, and as Spain showed herself 
powerless to quell the uprising, there grew up in the United 
States a strong feeling in favor of intervention. Some believed 
that the Cubans should be recognized as belligerents, others 
that war should be declared against Spain, and that Cuba 
should be annexed to the United States. In Congress the 
feeling against Spain was strong and bitter, and finally brought 
on a war between Spain and the United States. The leading 
events of the war and the humiliating terms which Spain was 
ultimately obliged to submit to are recorded elsewhere (p. 465). 
Great indignation was manifested in Spain over the disastrous 
defeats inflicted upon the Spanish navy and over the cession 
of the Philippines and the Spanish West Indies to the United 
States. Sagasta's government felt the weight of this dis- 
pleasure, and was barely able to maintain itself in power ; 
nor did the Queen Eegent, Maria Christina, escape popular 
censure. For a time a Carlist uprising seemed imminent, and, 
had it occurred, it might well have proved formidable. But 
Don Carlos had not the courage to strike; discontent was 
gradually quieted, and the country accepted the lessons of 
defeat. With dignity and with serious purpose the nation 



PART I SPAIN 111 

attempted to restore its niinecl finances, rebuild its navy, and 
reenter the path of progress. 

Although Spain showed vitter feebleness in the war with the 
United States, it also showed splendid heroism. Its people 
were ready to sacrifice and die for their country, and their 
ardent patriotism excited universal respect. It is to be hoped, 
therefore, that the process of decay which has been going on so 
long can be stayed, and that a people possessing such admirable 
qualities may yet have a prosperous career. The Spaniards are 
frugal, industrious, and temperate, as well as brave, and there 
seems to be no good reason why they should continue to lose in 
strength and vigor. Although it is widely said that the Latin 
nations are in a decline, the history of the century hardly 
bears out this assertion. Weighed down by ignorance, super- 
stition, bigotry, and oppressive rule, they have awakened from 
their mediaeval slumbers and joined in the common movement 
for constitutional government. Obtaining it under exceedingly 
adverse conditions, they have not, indeed, shown a clear appre- 
ciation of its nature and its value. Yet they have shared the 
progress of the nineteenth century. They have encouraged 
education, cultivated the industrial and the aesthetic arts, made 
notable contributions to literature, and kept alive a strong 
national spirit. If they have not attained to political stability, 
they have again and again emancipated themselves from bad 
government, and shown that at least they aspired to settled 
order and to an enlightened popular sovereignty. 

It may well be, then, that the detractors of these nations 
apply to them impossible standards. Their genius is not for 
politics. They will never vie with the Anglo-Saxon in found- 
ing democratic institutions, ruling subject peoples with equity, 
putting law upon a scientific basis, and solving the tremendous 
socialistic problems that are now taxing the mental resources 
of the race. But their comparative failure to win triumphs in 
these walks of national life does not prove that they are des- 
tined to decline. Esthetic, emotional, and volatile, they will 
achieve their best results through impulse, keen discernment, 
and flashes of insight rather than through reason and philo- 
sophic grasp. Yet even in the domain of politics these quali- 
ties may be of service and may contribute toward the making 
of a brilliant national life. 



112 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

Spain contains 197,670 square miles. Though its area is 
nearly as great as that of France, its population numbers less 
than twenty million. By the Constitution of 1876, Spain was 
made a constitutional monarchy, the executive power being 
vested in the King, and the legislative power in the Cortes and. 
the King conjointly. Two Houses make up the Cortes, the 
Senate and the Congress. There are three classes of senators : 
those who sit by right of birth or official position ; 100 life sen- 
ators nominated by the Crown (these two classes not to exceed 
180) ; and 180 senators elected by the Corporations of the State. 
The Congress is composed of 431 deputies, elected by all male 
Spaniards who are twenty-five years of age, enjoy full civil 
rights, and have been citizens of a municipality for two years. 
The Sovereign can convoke, suspend, or dissolve the Senate and 
the Congress ; but a new Cortes must sit within three months 
after a dissolution has been declared. The State religion is 
the Roman Catholic, and no other form of worship is allowed 
in public ; but this law is not rigidly enforced. Primary edu- 
cation is compulsory, but the compulsion has never been in- 
sisted upon, and a large proportion of the people are illiterate. 



CHAPTER VII 

PORTUGAL 

To one who looks carefully at the map of the Iberian penin- 
sula two facts become easily apparent ; one is that the entire 
peninsula ought to make a single countiy, and the other is that 
such dividing lines as it has do not run from north to south as 
does the boundary between Spain and Portugal. For the great 
rivers of the country have a southeasterly or a southwesterly 
flow, and its mountain chains usually follow the trend of the 
Pyrenees. It is evident, then, that Portugal owes its existence, 
not to geography, but to history. The geographical features 
of the peninsula do not warrant its division into the two 
separate kingdoms which lie side by side without any natural 
barrier between them. But history easily explains what geog- 
raphy thus fails to account for. Vanquished by the Moors, 
the Christian inhabitants of Spain withdrew to the mountains 
in the north, which abound in almost impenetrable fastnesses, 
and which have often defied invasion both in ancient and 
modern times. In this mountainous region they maintained a 
measure of independence, and from it they began to issue in 
the eleventh century and to push their Moslem enemies toward 
the south. But, kept apart by the rugged character of the 
country they inhabited and by the jealousies of their princes, 
the Christians did not form themselves into one formidable 
and aggressive power. Their warfare was a desultory one, 
and their conquests were extended southward along several 
parallel lines. In the east was the kingdom of Aragon ; in 
the west and centre the kingdoms of Leon, Castile, and Galicia, 
which in the latter part of the eleventh century were all 
under the one powerful and vigorous sovereign, Alfonso VI. 
This ruler, finding that the Moors were waxing dangerous, 
besought the aid of Christian knights from other countries, 
I 113 



114 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

and among those who responded to the call was Count Henry 
of Burgundy. To this knight he gave his daughter in mar- 
riage and the newly conquered district of Portocallo, compris- 
ing the northern part of modern Portugal, to hold in fief. But 
Count Henry was anxious to be King ; and though sudden death 
thwarted this ambition, his son, Alfonso Henriques, attained 
the coveted distinction and showed himself to be one of the 
ablest and most energetic princes of his time. He left Portu- 
gal a kingdom, and as the Moors were driven southward, the 
new kingdom, as well as Aragon and Castile, grew in size and 
strength. And though Aragon and Castile were united under 
Ferdinand and Isabella, Portugal retained its separate exist- 
ence. It had its own language, its own literature, its own 
heroes and explorers, and its own colonial possessions. The 
Portuguese reached India by the way of the Cape of Good Hope 
in 1497, and in 1500 they discovered Brazil. 

Thus the early years of the sixteenth century saw Portugal 
entering upon a splendid national career. Its King, by virtue 
of the India trade, was one of the richest sovereigns of Europe ; 
its people, proud of their achievements on land and sea, were 
full of energy and conscious of their power. In maritime 
knowledge they led the world ; in commerce they hardly had 
a rival ; and in spreading their conquests and discoveries they 
ever acquired fresh renown. 

But the same century that witnessed their greatest triumphs 
witnessed also their decline. The King of Portugal had made 
himself absolute, and in so doing had sapped the nobility of 
their strength. The people had no leaders. Emigration to 
newly found lands diminished the population of the country. 
Commercial prosperity drew crowds to the cities and emptied 
the rural districts. And even while these causes were bringing 
about national deterioration, religious bigotry fastened like a 
blight upon the kingdom. King John III., who reigned from 
1521 to 1557, introduced the Inquisition, stifled free thought, 
and robbed literary expression of fervor, power, and greatness. 
In the closing decades of the century Portugal was so weak 
and spiritless that, in 1580, Philip II. of Spain was able to 
establish a manifestly unjust claim to the throne. Thus the 
kingdoms, which, quite as much as England and Scotland, 
seemed fitted to have one destiny, were at last united; and 



PORTUGAL 115 



had the union been effected earlier, it might have proved 
enduring. But, coming as it did after Portugal had had such 
a splendid national experience, it lasted little more than half 
a century. Shorn of power and prestige though the Portuguese 
were, they could not forget the epic of Camoens, the discoveries 
of Bartholomew Diaz and Vasco de Gama, and the exploits of 
Alfonso de Albuquerque, the " Portuguese Mars." So in 1640, 
supported by France and Holland, they asserted their inde- 
pendence ; and with England's help they succeeded in main- 
taining themselves in the long and bloody war with Spain that 
followed this rebellion. The crown was now given to the House 
of Braganqa, with which it still remains. 

But Portugal could not recover what she had lost in the " sixty 
years' captivity," and in the period of national decline that had 
preceded it. Her colonial possessions had been wrested from 
her by England, France, and Holland ; and though she recov- 
ered Brazil from the Dutch and profited by its wealth of gold 
and diamonds, she was from this time on an insignificant 
power. The two kingdoms south of the Pyrenees had had a 
similar if not a common destiny. Each had had its period of 
greatness and expansion, followed by a long season of weak- 
ness, lethargy, and decay. Portugal as well as Spain began 
the nineteenth century ignorant, superstitious, unprogressive, 
and unfitted to lead the political life of Europe. 

Yet the Portuguese people were soon to show that they could 
follow, if they could not lead, the movement for constitutional 
freedom. Narrow and bigoted though they were, they had 
caught the spirit of liberty which had been roused by the 
French Revolution. In their country, as elsewhere in Europe, 
societies of Freemasons devoted themselves to propagating 
democratic principles ; and it was largely through the fear of 
these societies that the royal house fled at the approach of the 
French in 1807. For Portugal, like Spain and Italy, was 
coveted by Napoleon, who aimed to subjugate the kingdom, 
and award portions of it to his adherents. Accordingly, he 
sent General Junot with an array to drive out the House of 
Bragan(ja and complete the work of conquest. But Junot's 
task proved unexpectedly easy. He marched into the country 
with marvellous celerity, received a cordial welcome from the 
Freemasons, and frightened the royal family out of all 



116 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

thought of resistance by his rapid advance. The sovereign at 
this time was Maria I. She had succeeded to the throne in 
1777 ; but in 1788 she became insane, and her son Dom John 
assumed control of affairs, and was formally declared Regent in 
1799. Unwilling to appeal to arms in this unwelcome crisis, 
Dom J ohn appointed a regency, left the English to defend the 
kingdom against the French, and sailed for Brazil with Queen 
Maria and all the members of his family. 

That the English did not betray the trust committed to them 
is one of the well-known facts of history. They were anxious 
to break Napoleon's power, and they used Portugal as their 
base of operations. Wellington proved more than a match for 
Junot and for the other French generals whom Napoleon sent 
into the Spanish peninsula. Portugal was soon freed from 
French invasion, but only to find that her liberators had be- 
come her taskmasters. Although Portuguese affairs were nomi- 
nally ixnder the control of a regency, the English general. 
Lord Beresford, ruled the country very much like a dictator. 
No doubt this arbitrary assumption of power was in the inter- 
est of order and good government; yet none the less it was 
offensive to the Portuguese, who soon loecame clamorous for the 
return of the royal family from Brazil. But for some time 
Dom John was little inclined to comply with the wishes of his 
people. His mother, Queen Maria, died in 1816, and after her 
death he took the title of John VI., King of Portugal and 
Brazil. But it was in the latter country that he preferred to 
make his home. Brazil, with its unmatched harbor of Rio de 
Janeiro, its vast area and its inexhaustible resources, seemed 
to him a better seat of rule than his native land ; so, instead of 
returning at once to Portugal in response to the popular wish, 
he invited the leading nobles and the richest merchants of 
Portugal to settle in Brazil. But in time the demands of 
his Portuguese subjects became too insistent to be disregarded. 
The outbreak in Spain in 1820 aroused the spirit of insurrec- 
tion in the neighboring kingdom, and caused so strong a feel- 
ing against Lord Beresford that he sailed for Brazil to confer 
with King John in person. Hardly had he left the country 
when risings occurred in Oporto and Lisbon that resulted in 
the overthrow of the regency, and the convocation of a Cortes 
to frame a Constitution. 



PORTUGAL 117 



And this same democratic spirit made its way across the 
ocean. King John's Brazilian subjects swore allegiance to the 
Portuguese Constitution, even before that instrument was per- 
fected ; and, summoned at once by his native country and urged 
by the land of his adoption, the King returned to Portugal in 
1821, leaving his son Dom Pedro behind him to rule in his 
stead. Before he was allowed to disembark and enter Lisbon, 
he was obliged to sign the Constitution, which the Portuguese 
had now completed, and thoroughly imbued with tlie spirit of 
democracy. And this Constitution he swore to support in the 
following year, 1822. 

Thus, after an absence of fourteen years, the House of 
Braganqa resumed its reign as the sworn friend of popular 
rule. While most of the kingdoms of Europe bowed to the 
rule of the Holy Alliance, Portugal embarked upon the path 
of constitutional government. 

But the path proved anything but a smooth one. For five 
years the King endeavored to carry out the provisions of the 
Constitution, harassed all the time by his wife Carlotta and 
his son Dom Miguel, both of whom were unscrupulous and 
bigoted, and were thoroughly in league with the reactionists. 
And while they were giving him endless trouble at home his 
son Dom Pedro disowned all allegiance to his father and was 
crowned Emperor of Brazil in December, 1822. Still, though 
at one time made prisoner by Dom Miguel, King John was 
able to maintain himself in power. But after his death, which 
occurred in 1826, the kingdom became the scene of civil discord 
and bloody conflict. Eor straightway the friends of the Con- 
stitution and the reactionists became pitted against each other. 
The latter were led by the ex-Queen Carlotta, who desired to 
place her son Dom Miguel, always obedient to her wishes, upon 
the throne. The Constitutional party was headed by the late 
King's daughter, Isabella Maria. She had been named Regent 
by her father, and" she considered her brother, Dom Pedro, the 
rightful sovereign of Portugal. But Dom Pedro could not be 
King of Portugal and ruler of Brazil at the same time ; for 
when the independence of Brazil was acknowledged by King 
John, it was secretly agreed that the two thrones should not 
be occupied by the same person. Accordingly, being unwilling 
to abdicate, Dom Pedro attempted to reconcile the two con- 



118 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

tending parties in Portugal by a foolish compromise. Though 
Dom Miguel had already shown himself weak and treacherous, 
Dom Pedro trusted him and played into his hands. Abandon- 
ing all claim to the Portuguese throne himself, he proclaimed 
his seven-year-old daughter, Maria da Gloria, Queen of Portu- 
gal, and at the same time betrothed her to his brother Dom 
Miguel. He also granted Portugal a liberal Constitution, which 
Dom Miguel swore to maintain. So Dom Miguel came back 
from Vienna, whither he had been sent by his father on account 
of his intrigues and rebellions, and governed Portugal as Regent 
in behalf of his niece Donna Maria. But neither he nor his 
mother had any thought of remaining true to the liberal Con- 
stitution granted by Dom Pedro. Instigated and aided by 
Carlotta, Dom Miguel dissolved the Cortes, convened an assem- 
bly of his own partisans, and on July 4, 1828, assumed the 
title of King. This title the Constitutional party at once dis- 
puted. Consequently, as a result of Dom Pedro's credulity, 
the kingdom was plunged into civil war. 

The Constitutionalists Avere ready to fight for their principles 
and for their legitimate sovereign, but for a time they were 
without a proper head. Donna Maria had sailed from Brazil 
in July, 1828 ; but her guardian, having learned at Gibraltar 
of the treachery of Dom Miguel, carried her to London, whence 
she returned to Brazil in the following year. So Dom Pedro 
himself found urgent reasons for repairing to the torn and dis- 
tracted little kingdom. Abandoned by the Liberal party in 
Brazil, in 1830 he abdicated in favor of his son, then but six 
years old, and sailed for Europe with his wife and his daughter 
Donna Maria. He was cordially received at Paris and London, 
where he first resorted ; for Portugal was too thoroughly under 
Dom Miguel's control to allow of his landing there. On the 
9th of February, 1832, he sailed fron\ Belle Isle for Terceira 
at the head of an expedition, and at Terceira he proclaimed 
himself Regent of Portugal. This island of the Azores had 
become the stronghold and the basis of operations of the Con- 
stitutional party, Dom Miguel having vainly attempted to cap- 
ture it in 1829. Here the Constitutionalists were assembled 
in considerable numbers, and from here they sailed with a 
formidable force to regain possession of Portugal. Landing at 
Oporto on June 7, 1832, they soon succeeded in defeating the 



PORTUGAL 119 



forces of the reactionists. They were ably assisted by Sir 
Charles Napier, a distinguished English admiral ; and among 
the Portuguese themselves were soldiers of courage and ability. 
In the conflicts between Dom Miguel and the forces of the 
Constitutional party the Duke of Saldanha rendered gallant 
and efficient service. In some instances the fighting was 
spirited and bloody; for the reactionists made a desperate 
effort to keep control of the kingdom. But in the end they 
found themselves completely overmatched and outgeneralled. 
On May 26, 1834, Dom Miguel surrendered, and formally 
renounced all claim to the Portuguese throne. Five days later 
he left the country, never to return. 

Thus Portugal was saved from the rule of bigotry and intoler- 
ance, but her political path continued for a time to be troubled 
and uncertain. Por the nation had no fixed political ideals, 
no standards of sound and stable government, no genuine and 
persistent spirit of progress. Bigoted Royalists, moderate Con- 
stitutionalists, and radical Republicans contended for suprem- 
acy in the State for purely personal reasons, while those who 
possessed unselfish devotion to political principles were few in 
number and often without influence. Portugal did not indeed 
suffer from the long reign of a corrupt and shameless monarch, 
as Spain did under Isabella II. ; bvit, on the other hand, none 
of her rulers and statesmen knew how to lead her into the ways 
of settled peace. 

It was not under the most promising auspices, then, that 
Dom Pedro assumed control of Portuguese affairs. Yet all that 
he could do to further the Liberal cause and to establish order 
he did efficiently and promptly. In 1833 he restored the Con- 
stitution he had granted in 1826. After the downfall of Dom 
Miguel he influenced the Cortes to suppress the friars who 
fomented rebellion in the country villages, and to declare the 
Queen, his daughter Maria, of age. She was now only fifteen 
years old, but he felt his end drawing near, and on September 
24, 1834, only nine days after the Queen's majority was de- 
clared, he succumbed to the arduous cares and labors which 
for several years had been his lot. 

His death deprived the Queen of her stanchest supporter 
and friend. The Duke of Palmella and other able ministers 
upheld and guided her to the best of their ability, but they 



120 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

were not able to save the kingdom from factional warfare. 
One rebellion succeeded another all through her reign, which 
lasted for nineteen years, and peace was only restored when 
England, France, and Spain came to the assistance of the Queen 
in 1847. As Dom Pedro's liberal charter had been set aside 
during this turbulent period, the Constitution was revised by 
the Cortes in 1852, and approved in its amended form by Queen 
Maria, who caused her son, the heir to the kingdom, to take 
oath that he would maintain it. In the following year Maria 
II. died, and this same son succeeded to the throne. Maria was 
twice married. Her first husband, Prince August of Leuchten- 
berg, died in 1836, only three months after his marriage ; and 
in the following year she was wedded to Prince Ferdinand of 
Coburg, by whom she had several children. It was the oldest 
of them, already mentioned, that now came to the throne as 
Pedro V. ; but as he was only sixteen years of age, he was 
for two years under the regency of his father. Attaining his 
majority in 1857, he was formally inaugurated ; but four years 
later he died after a comparatively quiet and uneventful reign. 

He was succeeded by his brother, who ruled as Luis I., and 
under whom the kingdom made considerable progress in the di- 
rection of settled order and parliamentary government. True, 
insurrections were not unknown and ministerial changes were 
frequent ; but when the King died in 1889 he left the country 
quiet and fairly prosperous. The same conditions have pre- 
vailed under his son, Carlos I., who succeeded him. During 
the closing decade of the century Portugal has continued to 
make progress slowly, and to avoid serious internal dissension. 
Constitutionalism seems to have become firmly rooted in Portu- 
guese soil, and the monarchy stands apparently secure. For 
although the radical Republicans and the Socialists are active, 
the conservative party is strong throughout the country, and 
gives the existing form of government its powerful support. 

But Portugal needs to make much greater progress before 
her people can fully understand and appreciate parliamentary 
government. In education she is very backward. Her citizens 
have not yet learned the full responsibilities of the suffrage. 
The country is burdened also by a heavy debt, which hinders 
material prosperity and stands in the way of all measures 
of reform that call for a large expenditure. The debt is 



PORTUGAL 121 



about $800,000,000, while the population is only a little 
above 5,000,000. The area of the countiy is 36,038 square 
miles, or about one fifth that of Spain. 

The Constitution of Portugal recognizes four powers in the 
State, the executive, the legislative, the judicial, and the moder- 
ating authority. The executive power belongs to a responsible 
Cabinet, acting under the Sovereign ; the moderating authority 
belongs to the Sovereign, who can veto laws unless they have 
been passed twice by both Houses. Of the two legislative 
Chambers the Upper, or House of Peers, consists of 90 mem- 
bers appointed for life by the King, in addition to the princes 
of the blood and the 12 bishops of the continental dioceses ; 
the Lower Chamber consists of 146 members elected for four 
years by universal suffrage. The State religion is the Roman 
Catholic, but all others are tolerated. 



CHAPTER VIII 

BELGIUM 

Exasperated by the cruel and tyrannical rule of Spain, the 
Netherlands revolted in 1566 and waged $, fierce warfare for 
independence. That their warfare was partially successful is 
well known, for Motley's brilliant narrative has made this 
struggle one of the familiar events of history. But the success 
that attended the uprising of an outraged people was very far 
from complete. The seven northern provinces of the Nether- 
lands proved unconquerable, and Spain practically recognized 
their independence by the armistice concluded in 1609. But 
the southern provinces were less fortunate. Overmastered by 
that brilliant strategist, Alexander of Parma, they finally sub- 
mitted to Spain and abandoned their aspirations for religious 
and political independence. 

Thus the Netherlands became divided into two countries ; 
yet the division was a natural one. It was not merely the 
genius of Alexander of Parma that brought about the submis- 
sion of the southern provinces.^ The name of Belgium, which 
was given to this southern region of the Netherlands, suggests 
the character of its people, for it dates back to the ancient 
Belgse, who were one of the Gallic tribes. In process of time 
the Belgse became mixed with the Germans, and there came to 
be two imperfectly blended races and two different languages 
in the Belgic country. Some of its inhabitants were Flemish 
and spoke the Flemish language ; while others were Walloons, 
and used a speech which so far resembled the French language 
that it was finally recognized as a dialect of it. And these 
Walloons were Celtic in character and manners as in speech. 

1 The intrinsic difficulties in the way of a union between the Belgic prov- 
inces and the Protestant Netherlands are well set forth in Frederic Harri- 
son's " William the Silent," pp. 236, 237. 

122 



BELGIUM 123 



Excitable and passionate, swayed by feeling rather than by 
reason, they had the temper of the Frenchman rather than the 
German, and for the life and civilization of France they felt 
an active sympathy. A permanent union with the Dutch prov- 
inces of the Netherlands would have been distasteful to them ; 
hence their submission to Spain and their consequent separa- 
tion from the Dutch Republic gave them an opportunity to 
develop their own salient race characteristics. As their move- 
ment for religious independence was a failure, they retained 
the Catholic religion, as did also the Flemings ; who, though 
they differed from the Walloons in temper and language, were 
yet content to share their political destiny. 

Obliged to submit to Spain, Belgium remained subject to 
that country until 1713. True, Philip assigned the province 
to his daughter Isabel and her husband Albert in 1598 ; but 
this period of independence came to an end in 1621. But as 
the power of Spain declined, portions of Belgium were given 
up to France during the seventeenth century ; and the whole 
country was ceded to Austria by the Peace of Utrecht in 1713. 
During the Austrian War of Succession Belgium was conquered 
by the French ; but they restored it to Austria in 1748, and 
for nearly half a century longer it remained a part of Austria's 
composite dominions. In 1794, however, the French once more 
obtained possession of it, and in their hands it remained until 
France was deprived of its territorial conquests by the Treaty 
of Paris in 1814. The Congress of Vienna now assumed the 
right to dispose of Belgium, and as the little country had not 
had an independent existence for centuries, it was not made 
into a kingdom, but was incorporated with Holland. Thus the 
union that the rebellion against Philip had failed to bring 
about was finally accomplished. The Netherlands now made 
one kingdom. 

But the union proved to be of short duration. To the Flem- 
ings in the north of Belgium it gave a fair degree of satis- 
faction ; to the Walloons in the south it was thoroughly 
distasteful. Celtic in race, Celtic in temper, and Celtic in 
speech, they objected to forming a small minority in a Dutch 
country. Their discontent only increased as the years went 
by, and it finally took the form of open rebellion in 1830. In 
this movement for independence, the Flemings were ready to 



124 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

join, and accordingly the people of Belgium established a pro- 
visional government and renounced their allegiance to Holland. 
As their union with that country had been a source of continual 
irritation, the powers did not frown upon these national aspira- 
tions, but recognized the independence of Belgium before the 
end of 1830. But Holland was by no means disposed to lose 
so goodly a part of its domains. In defiance of the action of 
the powers it took steps to crush the insurgent people, and to 
reestablish its authority throughout the Belgian territory. 
And in this attempt it would possibly have succeeded if it had 
had to deal with Belgium alone. But when it was found that 
Holland intended to conquer the Belgians by force, the powers 
promptly interfered. France sent an army of fifty thousand 
men to help the struggling people, and when the Dutch proved 
refractory and refused to surrender Antwerp, that city was 
besieged by the French army. Though its Dutch garrison 
offered a brave resistance, it was compelled to surrender on 
December 23, 1832 ; and with this capitulation hostilities were 
brought to an end. A preliminary convention with Holland 
was arranged on May 21, 1833 ; and a treaty between the two 
countries was signed on April 19, 1839. 

Even before its independence was secured Belgium looked 
about for a king, its political leaders being too conservative to 
wish for a Republican form of government. The choice fell 
upon the Due de Nemours, son of Louis Philippe; but as 
Louis Philippe would not consent to the arrangement, Prince 
Leopold of Saxe-Coburg was finally selected, and on July 19, 
1831, he entered Brussels. Two days later he was crowned as 
Leopold I. The nature of the kingdom over which he was 
established was clearly defined by the Constitution which was 
adopted in 1831. By this instrument Belgium was declared to 
be " a constitutional, representative, and hereditary monarchy" ; 
and in accordance with this provision a parliament, consisting 
of a Senate and Chamber of Representatives, was elected. 
But though representative government was thus established, 
the representation was of the most inadequate character, for 
hardly a tenth of the adult males possessed the right to vote. 
Accordingly, the right was made somewhat more general by 
a law passed in 1849 ; but it was still restricted to a small por- 
tion of the population, and, owing to the conservative political 



BELGIUM 125 



temper of the country, no further progress was made in this 
direction for a considerable period. Long after some other 
European countries had granted liberal Constitutions and widely 
extended the franchise, Belgium still clung to its narrow and 
oligarchical system. The death of King Leopold in 1865, and 
the accession of his son to the throne as Leopold II., caused no 
pronounced change in the legislative tendencies of the nation. 

But in 1879 there was brought about a reform that led to 
far-reaching results. For secular education was secured in 
that year ; but, far from proving an unmixed blessing, it served 
to rouse the Clerical party into greater activity, and to tighten 
their hold upon the nation. By establishing parochial schools 
and by combating Liberalism in every possible way, the Cleri- 
cals increased their prestige and influence ; and in 1884 they 
succeeded in getting the Government under their control. This 
control they preserved by the most adroit political methods, 
shaping new legislation to further their own ends, and even 
forcing Liberal measures to contribute to their party suprem- 
acy. In the early nineties it became apparent to all that the 
franchise must be extended, for in the industrial districts there 
were heard mutterings of a gathering storm. Densely popu- 
lated as Belgium is, a spirit of discontent among the working- 
classes easily spreads and causes general excitement ; and the 
laborers were now growing turbulent and riotous, for they were 
convinced that they were wronged by their employers, and 
that, in order to wage war with capital on equal terms, they 
needed the right of suffrage. Combining to secure that right, 
they presented a formidable front; and as their demand was 
endorsed by the Liberal party and was in accord with the polit- 
ical tendencies of the century, it was granted by the nation. 
In 1893 the Constitution was amended so as to give the suffrage 
to all citizens over twenty-five years of age who had lived as 
long as a year in the same commune. Universal suffrage was 
thus adopted ; but even with its adoption steps were taken by the 
Clericals to counteract its democratic and levelling tendencies. 
For an extra vote was given to married men of thirtj^-five who 
pay a tax of five francs and who have children to support, and 
also to substantial property owners ; while two extra votes 
were given to citizens of twenty-five who have completed a 
course at some higher institution of learning. 



126 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

As the educated and well-to-do classes in Belgium are largely 
under the influence of the Catholic Church, these modifications 
of the right of suffrage were in the interest of the Ultra- 
Montane party ; and the Clericals themselves, accordingly, 
were not surprised at the results of the first elections held 
under these new political conditions. A sweej^ing Liberal and 
Socialist victory had indeed been expected by those who had 
not noted the manoeuvres of the Ultra-Montanes. But the tide 
turned in the opposite direction. Of the 152 seats in the 
Chamber of Representatives, the Liberals obtained only 15 
and the Socialists 33 ; while the Clericals secured 104. Main- 
taining this ascendency in subsequent elections, they kept 
control of the Government ; and so encouraged were they by 
their success that they devised or furthered new measures to 
strengthen their power. Fortune indeed seemed sometimes to 
befriend them, as they were able to profit by appropriate and 
needed legislation. In 1898 it was proposed to place Flemish 
on a legal equality with French, which had been the official 
language of the State authorities and the court since 1794 ; and 
although this was only an act of justice, considering that the 
Flemings outnumbered the Walloons in the kingdom, it was 
still sure to help the cause of the Clericals.^ For it is among 
the Flemings that Catholicism has its strongest hold in Bel- 
gium. The measure was, therefore, fiercely combated by the 
Walloons, but they were unable to defeat it, for it seemed to 
have right upon its side. 

Not so much, however, could be said in favor of a scheme 
which the Clericals brought forward in 1899. This was a bill 
to amend parliamentary representation ; and so ingeniously 
was it framed that it seemed at first to spring from the 
demand for electoral reform which was now widespread and 
continually growing. For so far as its mere wording went, 
the bill seemed innocent and even just. It simply provided 
for a proportional or minority representation in the cities that 
returned more than three deputies apiece. But these were the 
very cities where the Clericals were in a minority, and by the 
new law these constituencies would be taken partially out of 
Liberal control. According to the laws that were in force, in 
case there was not a complete result from a first ballot, a sec- 

^ The facts regarding the language question are given on page 128. 



BELGIUM 127 



ond ballot was allowed; and when the second ballot was taken 
the Liberals and Socialists were accustomed to unite on that 
candidate, no matter to which of the two parties he belonged, 
who had received the greatest number of votes on the first 
ballot. Consequently, as they could always outvote the Cleri- 
cals when they thus combined, they were sure to elect their 
candidate on the second ballot. But the new law took away 
the second ballot, and gave the election to the candidate who 
had the most votes on the first count. 

It was a well-planned scheme, but its purport was immedi- 
ately understood, and it roused the most determined opposi- 
tion of the Liberals and the Socialists. Indeed, the situation 
became so menacing that a revolution seemed not improbable ; 
and a revolution might have residted in the overthrow of the 
reigning dynasty, and in a general European embroilment.^ 
But the Clericals thought it wise to quiet the storm they had 
raised. Accordingly, the Government announced on June 30, 
1899, that it wished for time to consider the vexing question 
that was before the nation, and it therefore requested the 
Chamber of Eepresentatives to adjourn until July 4. To this 
proposition the enemies of the new measure gave their con- 
sent, and the coimtry was immediately quieted, though riots 
still occurred in some of the provinces : On July 4, M. Van 
den Peereboom, President of the Council and Minister of War, 
declared that the Government was willing to refer the electo- 
ral problem to a committee made up from all parties, and that 
it was desirous of finding a satisfactory solution. As this pro- 
posal was regarded by the Socialists as a practical withdrawal 
of the offensive bill, they gave it their approval, and thus 
the franchise question ceased for a time to disturb the politics 
of the country. But it was sure to come up again and to 
occasion trouble, for it had never been settled in a fair and 
equitable manner.^ 

Yet even a satisfactory suffrage law could hardly heal the 
dissensions that agitate the kingdom and render the throne 
insecure. Those racial differences which have so long created 

1 The importance of the crisis is set forth in Public Opinion, 27 : 107. 

2 The mere statistics of the election held in 1898 suffice to show the grave 
defects of the system then existing ; for, although the Liberals, Radicals, and 
Socialists polled 936,237 votes, and the Clericals 993,857; yet the Clericals 
elected 112 representatives out of a total of 152. 



128 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

divergence of action and opinion, and which can never be 
eradicated, are the true cause of these violent political antag- 
onisms. It was the Walloons who brought on the insurrection 
against Holland in 1830. It was among the Walloons that the 
mining strikes occurred, and riotous outbreaks were counte- 
nanced in the closing decade of the century. And it was the 
Walloons again who nearly caused a revolution in 1899. Liv- 
ing mostly in the southern provinces of Belgium and compris- 
ing the industrial portion of the population, they have caught 
the spirit of discontent that is now rife among the laboring 
classes and are impregnated with socialistic opinions ; while 
the Flemings in the north are engaged in agriculture, and are, 
as has been already shown, stanch supporters of the Clerical 
party.^ So these two races stand pitted against each other, 
and how far their warfare will go, and how it will end, it is 
impossible to say. The difference in language serves to in- 
tensify the differences in race and feeling, as was made appar- 
ent in 1898, when Flemish was recognised as an official language 
(p. 126). Retaining their Dutch instincts and characteristics, 
the Flemings cling to their Flemish or Dutch speech; while 
the language of the Walloons is really a French dialect. In 
1890 there were about 2,500,000 who spoke French only, and 
about 2,750,000 who spoke Flemish only ; while about 700,000 
spoke both of these languages. 

But, in spite of the lack of harmony between these two 
races, Belgium is in many respects a progressive and enlight- 
ened country. Primary education is liberally provided for by 
the Government, "and illiteracy is slowly disappearing. There 
also exist higher institutions of learning, including four uni- 
versities, which are well supported. Although the population 
is chiefly Catholic, there is no State religion, and entire reli- 
gious liberty is guaranteed by the Constitution. The system 
of justice is well organized and complete; trial by jury was 
established in 1831 ; and the law courts are conducted with 
great dignity and efficiency.^ The debt of the kingdom is 
large, amounting to about $500,000,000 ; but this sum was for 
the most part raised and expended to promote the construction 
of public works, especially railways. 

The members of the Chamber of Deputies, 152 in number, 
1 Macmillan's Magazine, 72: 1. ^ jhe, Green Bag, 8: 158. 



BELGIUM 129 



are elected directly for four years, half of them retiring every 
two years. Of the senators part are chosen indirectly by pro- 
vincial councils, part directly by the people. The number of 
the latter class must equal half the number of the members of 
the Chamber of Representatives. The two parliamentary 
Chambers are convened, prorogued, and dissolved by the King. 
They meet annually in November and must sit for not less than 
forty days. 

Belgium is one of the most densely populated countries in 
the world. It has an area of 11,373 square miles, and over 
6,500,000 inhabitants. 



CHAPTER IX 

TWO MINOR STATES 

San Marino 

According to tradition, a stone mason named Marinus, desir- 
ing to escape from the persecutions which the Cliristians suffered 
under Diocletian early in the third century, fled from Rimini 
to Mount Titano of the Apennines, built himself a hut upon its 
summit, and lived such a pious and holy life that after his 
death he was accounted a saint. About the spot which he 
chose for a home a village grew up, which looked upon this 
holy man as its founder, and thence took the name of San Ma- 
rino. In the course of time a castle was built to give the vil- 
lage protection ; and this castle, as the people of San Marino 
proudly assert, has never been in an enemy's hands. 

If this tradition were authentic, the Republic of San Marino 
could claim a history extending over some fifteen hundred 
years ; but it cannot be proved by documentary evidence that 
it existed prior to 885. But whatsoever may have been the 
date of its origin, it was destined to pass through troublous 
times and to see its independence more than once assailed. 
Only twelve miles to the north was the city of Rimini, where 
the powerful family of Malatesta had its seat; while to the 
south was the rival, and as the sequel showed, still stronger, 
family of Montefeltro. San Marino could not keep clear of 
the feud that existed between these two houses ; but, allying 
itself by good fortune with that of Montefeltro, it ultimately 
reaped the rewards of victory. In the thirteenth century the 
head of the Montefeltro house became Duke Federigo of Ur- 
biuo ; and in 1463 Duke Federigo of Urbino and his allies, the 
King of Naples and the Pope, gave San Marino additional cas- 
tles and the villages of Faetano, Sarravalle, and Montegiardino in 

130 



SAN MARINO 131 



return for efficient services rendered them in their wars with 
the house of Malatesta. 

But this increase of territory did not prove an unmixed bless- 
ing. Though secured against the encroachments of immediate 
neighbors, San Marino roused the cupidity of the papacy itself. 
More than once did a Pope plan to get possession of it ; and in 
1739 Cardinal Alberoni actually asserted papal jurisdiction 
over the little mountain state. This claim, however, was 
promptly repudiated by Clement XII. in the following year. 
Hence, in spite of the dangers which menaced it, the Republic 
held its own ; and even Napoleon Bonaparte, when he was mak- 
ing and unmaking governments all over Italy, respected its 
independence. It was the memory of this fact, very possibly, 
that made Napoleon III. protect it from Pius IX. in 1854. 

While the Italians were struggling for unity and freedom, 
San Marino was sometimes placed in a trying position, as po- 
litical refugees resorted to it for safety. In 1849 the Austrians 
threatened to invade it unless it gave up Garibaldi, who had 
taken refuge within its walls. But the people of San Marino, 
who were powerless to stand out against the Austria-n Empire 
and were yet unwilling to betray a fellow lover of liberty, suc- 
ceeded in obtaining such favorable terms for Garibaldi and the 
few devoted followers who were with him that they acceded 
to the Austrian demand. For the Austrians promised that 
they would give Garibaldi a passport to America, and would 
allow his companions to return to their homes unmolested, if 
they would first deliver up their arms. But this fair promise 
was distrusted by the shrewd Italian patriot, who had had 
some experience with Austrian good faith, and it would have 
been well for his followers if they had been equally sus- 
picious. Garibaldi escaped by night to a seaport, and thence 
made his way across the water; but the other patriots, who 
gave themselves up to the Austrian authorities at Rimini, were 
promptly imprisoned. Italian unity was finally achieved, but 
still San Marino maintained its separate existence, and it did 
not become a part of the kingdom of Victor Emmanuel. The 
Italians, themselves ardent supporters of republican principles, 
were unwilling to disturb the little state that had clung to its 
independence for a thousand years. Accordingly, while ac- 
knowledging it as a distinct commonwealth, they took it under 



132 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

their protection, and the kingdom of Italy concluded a treaty 
of friendship with, it in 1872. 

The Constitution of the Republic was much changed in 1847, 
but still retains the stamp of medieevalism. Indeed, as An- 
dorra shows us a patriarchal system of government rather 
than a democracy, so San Marino is rather an oligarchy 
than a republic. For though the suffrage belongs to all men 
who are above twenty-five years of age, nearly all power is 
vested in a Chamber of sixty members who are elected for 
life, and who are entrusted with the duty of nominating can- 
didates for the office of President. The Presidents, or Reg- 
genti, are two in number and hold office for only six months. 
So, twice every year, on the first of April and the first 
of October, the members of the Chamber nominate six of 
their number, and every voter in the state is supplied with 
a ballot on which are written two of the six names selected.. 
And now comes a peculiar ceremony, in which politics and 
religion and superstition are strangely blended. For the 
polling place is the cathedral in the town of San Marino, 
in which an urn is placed behind the high altar; and into 
this urn each voter drops his ballot while the Te Deum is 
solemnly chanted. When all have cast their votes, a child 
draws a ballot from the urn at random and a priest proclaims 
that the two whose names are inscribed upon this ballot are 
the Presidents of San Marino.^ Besides the Chamber of sixty, 
there is also an executive council of twelve, two thirds of whom 
go out every year. Like Andorra, San Marino hardly knows 
crime, and its prison is but little used. It has, however, a 
justiciary, which is made up of lawyers summoned from the 
Roman bar to sit in judgment for a certain period every year.^ 
For the citizens of this small state, which has an area of 
thirty-two square miles and a population of about 8000, are 
too well acquainted with each other to be asked to pass judg- 
ment upon the affairs of their neighbors. 

Andorra 

In the eastern stretches of the Pyrenees lies a tiny state, 
only twenty miles by thirty in extent, which has maintained 

1 Eclectic Magazine, 129 : 603. 2 The Nation, 64 : 412. 



ANDORRA 133 



its independence for more than six hundred years. According 
to tradition, Andorra was established by Charlemagne and his 
son, Louis of Aquitaine, and was made free and independent 
in 819, because it assisted one of Charlemagne's lieutenants in 
an attack upon the province of Urgel. But this story seems 
to be merely an unauthenticated legend, and Andorra undoubt- 
edly owes its rights of self-government to one of those strange 
chances of which history is so full. In the thirteenth century 
it was under the suzerainty of the Count of Foix, and at the 
same time it owed a certain measure of allegiance to the Bishop 
of Urgel. As these two overlords each claimed entire con- 
trol of the little state, their respective rights were determined 
by arbitration in 1278, and thus Andorra was saved from ren- 
dering complete submission to either of its feudal masters. 

As the Count of Foix rendered homage to the King of France, 
the rights he exercised over Andorra were acquired by the 
latter country, and have been maintained to the present day. 
The French Republic keeps a Viguier, or Agent, not far from 
the borders of Andorra, who is appointed for life, and who has 
a certain measure of control over the administration of justice 
in the little Republic. A similar right is still exercised by 
the Bishop of Urgel, but his agent must be a citizen of Andorra 
and is appointed for only three years. Thus the Republic of 
Andorra has never acquired absolute freedom ; but these feudal 
rights, which date from the Middle Ages, have grown more 
and more shadowy with the lapse of centuries, while the right 
of self-government has been vigorously asserted and exercised. 
For the people of the country, who number only about six 
thousand, are its rulers. They are divided into six parishes, 
and each of these parishes sends four delegates every year to 
the palace in the village of Andorra. These twenty-four 
delegates, who are elected for four years, constitute a Council, 
which chooses a President, or Syndic, and is vested with legis- 
lative powers. But so far does the patriarchal spirit prevail 
that the Council defers greatly to the wisdom and authority 
of the President, and expects him to take the initiative in 
bringing forward new measures and proposals. When a matter 
is to be decided, the members vote, not individually, but by 
parishes ; and the President has a casting vote. The same 
conservative spirit is shown in determining the rights of suf- 



134 THE LATIN NATIONS book i 

frage and of citizenship. Only heads of families can sit in 
the Council or vote for its members, though a man who is over 
sixty years of age can transfer his right of voting to a son. 
Nor does a more unrestricted suffrage seem anywise necessary 
when one considers the simplicity of the whole machinery of 
government and the exceedingly small volume of public busi- 
ness that is transacted. There are only four or five state 
officials ; a poll-tax on sheep and goats, and a tax on corn 
supply all the revenue that is needed by the Eepublic ; the 
prison seldom has an occupant ; civil suits are infrequent and 
are easily settled. 

Such is the government of the so-called Eepublic of Andorra. 
Its patriarchal character reflects the life and manners of a 
simple people who cling fast to ancient usages and ancient 
habits of thought. They have made no advance in education 
and have contributed nothing to science, art, or letters. Even 
the magnates and landowners of Andorra are merely patri- 
archal peasants who dress like common laborers, are contented 
with the rudest dwellings, and know no other riches than 
flocks and herds. Even more primitive is the life of the ordi- 
nary peasant. His abode is nothing more than a hovel, which 
is sometimes perched on a steep mountain side, in the path of 
the avalanche and exposed to wind and storm. There he lies 
down at night on his bed of skins, undisturbed by the howling 
of the wolves Avhich have not wholly ceased to haunt the 
mountain wilds. Thus life flows on unchanging in this se- 
cluded little country, and the strenuous thought of the nine- 
teenth century has not wakened these primitive peasants 
from their mediaeval slumbers. Their Republican form of 
government does not owe its existence to the French Revolu- 
tion or to the spirit of modern progress. It springs from the 
temper of a sturdy mountain race. It is a survival, not a new 
creation. Only by courtesy is it included in a study of the 
growth of democracy in the nineteenth century. 



Part II 

SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY (Liechtenstein) 
SERVIA BULGARIA 

GREECE MONTENEGRO 

RUMANIA TURKEY 

RUSSIA 



CHAPTER I 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

The history of France shows how various Celtic tribes lying 
between the Rhine and the Pyrenees were fused into a nation. 
The history of Germany is a story of the growth of a people 
and of their final union into one powerful state. Similarly, 
Italian history tells how states related by blood, but long dis- 
severed, were at last united into a kingdom. But the history 
of Austria presents a very different record. It tells how races 
of different blood have been imperfectly amalgamated by con- 
quest, and have remained dissentient and jealous of each other. 
The condition of Austria-Hungary to-day cannot be under- 
stood without a brief statement of its earlier history. 

Austria properly comprises a portion of that tract which was 
in ancient times known as Noricum and Pannonia. In this 
district German peoples settled, and were forced by the course 
of events into fulfilling a peculiar destiny. For their geo- 
graphical position brought them into close and vital connection 
with non-Germanic races. The region to the east of them was 
the meeting-ground of various peoples. It had always its native 
populations, and into it flowed successive waves of migration 
and conquest. Here dwelt Poles, Vlachs, and Slavs ; and here 
Saxons, Jews, and Magyars found their way, and the Turks 
again and again sent their invading hosts. Thus the Germans 
who dwelt upon the western confine of this disputed territory 
held a position of great importance. They formed a barrier 
against the turbulence of that unquiet region and the tides of 
barbarism that sometimes rolled across it. So, at an early 
period, this outpost of the Teutonic civilization began to 
develop power and strength. Charlemagne divided the tract 
and made its rulers margraves. To the further portion he 
gave the term " Oesterreich " (Eastern Kingdom), whence the 

137 



138 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

name Austria. The margraviate of Austria was made an 
hereditary duchy in 1156. In 1278 it passed under the rule 
of Rodolf, Count of Hapsburg, who was also Emperor of Ger- 
many. From this time on it grew in importance and splendor, 
and began to overshadow the other German states. In 1453 it 
was raised to an archduchy ; and shortly afterward the Haps- 
burg line, which still possessed it, gained new distinction. For 
the headship of the Empire^ which had already been given to 
Count Rodolf, passed permanently to the Hapsburgs in 1493. 
Hence the fortunes ( f Austria became linked to those of a 
great imperial house, and under this line of emperors it gained 
in power and territory. In 1526 it acquired possession of Bohe- 
mia and Hungary. But through these very accessions of 
strength it was preparing the way for future trouble. Bohe- 
mia was populated by Slavs and Hungary by Magyars, a Fin- 
nish people belonging to the Turanian family. And thus 
begins the problem of uniting diverse peoples under one rule, 
a problem that was to grow more difficult and intricate as new 
accessions of territory were made. Moreover, in bringing 
alien peoples under her sway, Austria was entering upon a 
career that was destined to assume sharp contradictions. Her 
interests became closely identified with those of her subject 
races. She became more vitally connected with Slavs and 
Magyars than with Germans ; and she remained intensely 
Catholic, while North Germany adopted the Protestant faith. 
Thus her civilization ceased to be peculiarly Germanic. The 
most powerful German state lost its claim to be the leader of 
Germany. All this, however, was only to be made apparent 
by time. The fortunes of Austria varied with the fortunes of 
war and with repeated redivisions of territory between herself 
and neighboring powers. But her possessions rather increased 
than diminished up to the time when the Holy Roman Empire 
was brought to an end in 1806. After that date her ruler could 
no longer wear the title, " Emperor of Germany." But in 1804 
the head of the Hapsburg House, who had reigned over the 
Empire as Francis II., was entitled Francis I. of Austria, and 
was declared hereditary Emperor. Thus Austria, from being 
originally a margraviate, had become an empire. It was not, 
like the Holy Roman Empire, made up chiefly of German 
people. It embraced Slavs, Poles, Magyars, Wallachians, Jews, 



PART II AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 139 

Italians, and mixed races, as well as Germans. But it was 
populous, great, and splendid, and its sovereigns belonged to 
one of the great and powerful dynasties of Europe. 

The new empire was indeed rudely handled by Napoleon. 
He routed its armies, curtailed its territory, and destroyed its 
dominant influence in Germany by forming the Confederation 
of the Rhine. But after Napoleon's overthrow Austria regained 
her old prestige. The possessions she had lost in Italy were 
restored to her Avith some additions, so that Lombardy, Vene- 
tia, and the Tyrol became a part of her domains. Bohemia 
and other Slavic states still belonged to her, and Hungary con- 
tinued to recognize her sovereignty. Altogether her popula- 
tion was about twenty-five millions, and made her the most 
conspicuous and powerful of all the German states. For 
Prussia, the only one that could rival her, had but eight mill- 
ion people. Naturally, therefore, Austria assumed a com- 
manding influence in the newly formed German Confederation. 
To her was given the presidency of its Diet and habitual defer- 
ence in the conduct of affairs. And this honor was not an 
empty one, for the Confederation comprised thirty-seven states 
and a population of over thirty millions. 

Moreover, the abilities of Metternich gave Austria a peculiar 
prominence in Europe. For Metternich really controlled the 
Holy Alliance and kept it strictly to its work of protecting 
the divine right of kings. Hence, through the agency of that 
astute statesman, Austria became the champion of absolutism 
and the uncompromising enemy of democracy. 

Her name, therefore, came to be unpleasantly associated with 
despotism. Until the close of the war with Prussia, in 1866, 
Austria was regarded as an unprogressive and tyrannical 
power. Her chief ambition was to wield a commanding inflii- 
ence in Germany and with the Holy Alliance. Her chief task 
was to suppress revolutions throughout Europe. 

But in neither of these aims was she successful, though she 
maintained her power and prestige undiminished for many 
years. Indeed, through the activity of Metternich she acquired 
additional influence and authority. For again and again she 
crushed popular uprisings in neighboring states, and her name 
became a terror to the lovers of constitutional freedom. And 
for a considerable time she kept her own territory free from 



140 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

insurrection. Though the people of adjoining states took arms 
to win their liberty, her own subjects remained quiet under her 
stern and repressive sway. Yet even Metternich could not 
keep the revolutionary movement out of Austria. He did all 
he could toward that end. Throughout the whole Austrian 
territory the people were kept in ignorance; the press was 
controlled ; the police inspired terror by their activity. And 
degraded and uneducated as the people were, Metternich felt 
sure that nothing was to be apprehended from them. But in 
spite of the rigid surveillance under which they were kept, 
they understood their own wrongs, and they grew ever more 
discontented. They had no rights and privileges, and they 
had to bear the burden of taxation in order to support the 
favored few. So in secret they nursed their resentment, 
plotted the overthrow of the existing regime, and awaited the 
signal of revolution. 

The signal came in 1848. When the people of Austria heard 
that Louis Philippe had been forced to abdicate, they became 
clamorous for constitutional government. An insurrection 
broke out in Vienna. Prince Metternich's palace was assaulted 
and the Prince was obliged to flee from the country. The 
Emperor Ferdinand was frightened into making liberal con- 
cessions. He promised to allow the press its freedom, to grant 
universal suffrage, convene a popular assembly, and set free 
political prisoners. But finding that even these concessions 
did not restore quiet, he secretly left Vienna. 

After his withdrawal the popular Assembly met, and under 
its tranquillizing influence the Emperor ventured to return. 
But his stay was short. A second uprising soon occurred. 
The insurgents captured the arsenal and murdered the aged 
Minister of War. So the Emperor once more betook himself 
to flight. 

But the revolutionary movement did not confine itself to 
Vienna. The Italians in North Italy rose to gain their free- 
dom. Hungary had long chafed under Austrian rule and now 
endeavored to break away from it entirely. And Bohemia and 
Silesia were in revolt, for the Slavs as well as the Hungarians 
disliked the Austrian yoke and cherished longings for inde- 
pendence. 

Thus the prospects of the Empire were indeed gloomy, and. 



PART II AUSTRIA- HUNGARY 141 

unfriended, it could hardly have escaped dissolution. The 
Slavs and the Italians were repressed without great difficulty. 
But the insurrection of Vienna was of a most formidable char- 
acter, and it was only by the aid of the Ban of Croatia that the 
Emperor succeeded in recapturing his rebellious capital. The 
insurgents were well organized and determined, and they 
refused to surrender even when threatened with bombard- 
ment. But the Croatian army of thirty thousand, combined 
with the Emperor's forces, was too strong for them. The 
threatened bombardment took place. A terrible slaughter 
occurred within the city walls, and the insurrection was 
brought to a bloody termination. Bvit the Emperor dared not 
resume his sway over subjects who had offered him such fierce 
resistance. He resigned his throne to his nephew, Francis 
Joseph, and lived in retirement for nearly thirty years, his 
death not occurring until 1875. 

More formidable still was the revolt in Hungary. The 
people of this country numbered several millions, and they 
were animated by an ardent love of freedom. Long centuries 
of alien rule had not killed their aspirations to be an inde- 
pendent nation. Excitable, intense, and passionate, they were 
now thrilled with the desire to become a self-governing people. 
Toward Austria they cherished no feeling of loyalty or grati- 
tude. Her rule had been harsh and oppressive. The peasantry 
had been taxed heavily and deprived of all political rights and 
privileges. The poor man did everything for the State, while 
the State did nothing for him but reduce him to serfdom. For 
the nobility possessed such extensive powers that they could 
rule like feudal lords over the lower classes and prevent them 
from growing into a strong and vigorous third estate. Yet the 
nobles as well as the peasantry were now ready to take arms 
for independence ; for, in spite of the privileges allowed them, 
they had not been free to develop their own national traits 
and characteristics. Austria had steadily tried to crush the 
individuality of the entire Hungarian people, and to mould 
noble and peasant alike into conformity with her own Germanic 
civilization. But this coercive policy was deeply resented by 
all classes, and made all unite in the effort to throw off the 
Austrian supremacy. 

There were Slavs and Germans in Hungary who resisted the 



142 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA 



Magyar movement, but in spite of them it promised to be 
successful. A national assembly had been granted by the 
Emperor Ferdinand, and it found efficient leaders and took 
vigorous measures to maintain the cause of Hungary by arms. 
Louis Kossuth and Francis Deak were among its most promi- 
nent members, and the former was made Governor-General of 
the country. And in Klapka, Bem, and Gorgei, the Hunga- 
rians found able generals. -Under their leadership the Hun- 
garians won several victories. Austria was hardly able to 
cope with the rebellious people. Hungary seemed likely to 
become a nation. And yet on the eve of success came utter 
disaster. The generals did not cooperate properly with each 
other and with the civil authorities ; and along with internal 
dissensions came foreign intervention. Eussia was unwilling 
to see a free nation established on her very borders. She sent 
her troops to aid those of Austria, and the Hungarians were 
soon completely vanquished. Their armies surrendered. Some 
of their leading generals were put to death. But Kossuth 
escaped to Turkey, which refused to give him up to Austria or 
Russia in spite of their urgent demands. 

Rebellion Avas everywhere crushed. Austria had reestab- 
lished her authority through the length and breadth of her 
domains. Slavs, Poles, Magyars, and Germans were all alike 
held in subjection to her repressive rule. For though the 
regime of Metternich had ended, and though a liberal Constitu- 
tion had been granted by the new Emperor, guaranteeing a 
national parliament, household suffrage, freedom for the press, 
freedom in religion, and universal education, yet the govern- 
ment soon drifted back into its old despotic ways. Francis 
Joseph was by no means an unprogressive ruler. As new 
crises arose, he showed the ability of the statesman in rising 
to them and in shaping his policy to existing needs. But he 
was only eighteen ye'ars old v/hen he began to reign ; the 
traditions of his Empire were all in favor of absolutism ; and 
his success in finally suppressing insurrection blinded him to 
the danger of coercing the popular will. Consequently, on 
December 31, 1851, he revoked the Constitution he had granted 
less than three years earlier, though the clauses in favor of 
education were' allowed to remain in force. Children between 
the ages of six and twelve were obliged to attend school. In 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 143 



1852 trial by jury was abolished ; and in 1855 a Concordat was 
arranged with the Vatican which gave the Pope a considerable 
control in the affairs of the Empire. 

In thus abandoning the path of liberalism, Austria forfeited 
her right to lead and unify the German people. For a time, 
indeed, her power and prestige seemed to remain unshaken. 
She still retained the presidency of the Diet of the Confedera- 
tion. She was much superior to every other German state in 
size and population, and, as she confidently supposed, in mili- 
tary strength. But as the years passed, she received one rude 
shock after another, and finally abandoned her despotic ways, 
only to find herself excluded from the new German nation. 
In 1859 she lost Lombardy through her inability to cope with 
Napoleon in North Italy. Startled by this reverse, she partially 
realized the need of a more liberal form of rule. Three Con- 
stitutions were granted in quick succession during the years of 
1860 and 1861. None of them, however, proved adequate, and 
the policy and the character of the government remained practi- 
cally unchanged. In 1864 occurred the war with Denmark. The 
combined Austrian and Prussian armies easily overcame the 
resistance of the Danes, and the war was on too small a scale to 
enable Austria to discern the vast military strength of her ally. 

She was therefore unprepared for the crushing defeats of 
1866 and she was deeply humiliated by them. At the same 
time they proved a benefit. They deprived Austria of leader- 
ship in Germany ; they brought home to her the need of admin- 
istrative and constitutional reforms. And trying as it was to 
be excluded from the new league of German states, it was 
doubtless for her good that this should be so. Austria was 
attempting to perform a double national function and the task 
was altogether beyond her powers. She was reaching west- 
ward and northward and trying to hold all Germany within 
her grasp ; and at the same time she was reaching eastward 
and compelling Slavs, Poles, Magyars, and Rumanians to 
submit to a not wholly welcome rule. Each of these aims was 
an ambitious one. Either of them was vast enough to tax the 
full resources of the Hapsburg House. It was well, therefore, 
that one of them should be made forever impossible, and that 
all the energies of the nation should be devoted to the one 
remaining. 



144 SOUTHEASTERN EUllOPE AND RUSSIA book i 

Excluded from Germany, Austria endeavored to strengthen 
her sway over her strangely composite dominions. Her Em- 
peror and statesmen realized that radical reforms were neces- 
sary. The spirit of progress was in the air, Prussia had 
usurped the lead in Germany by enterprise, shrewd diplomacy, 
and thoroughly efficient administration. Austria must follow 
her example, if she would keep her place among the great Euro- 
pean nations. The various races over which she rided could no 
longer be kept in subjection by crude force. The day of abso- 
lutism had gone by. Even the autocratic Tsar of Russia was 
finding that his throne stood upon a quaking soil. The Aus- 
trian Empire could only stand secure by giving its subjects a 
liberal and enlightened rule. 

In inaugurating such a rule, Francis Joseph found an able 
assistant in Baron von Beust of Saxony, who had removed to 
Vienna after the Austrian rout at Koniggratz. Von Beust had 
always been a friend and hearty admirer of Austria. Her 
claims to leadership in German affairs he had steadily en- 
dorsed, while Prussia and Bismarck had found in him a deter- 
mined opponent. In recognition of his services the Emperor 
now made him Foreign Minister and soon elevated him to the 
Chancellorship in spite of his Protestant faith. A broad states- 
man, though not a great one, he urged liberal measures from 
the beginning of his new diplomatic career. By his advice a 
new Constitution was proclaimed. Independence was granted 
to Hungary, and Francis Joseph and his imperial consort were 
crowned King and Queen of Hungary at Budapest. Civil 
marriages were made legal. The army was strengthened and 
brought to a high state of efficiency. The Concordat with the 
Pope was cancelled. But to the Slavs von Beust would grant 
no concessions, and they grew clamorous against him. Like 
the Hungarians, they craved independence, and now that 
Hungary was a separate kingdom, they were indignant that 
their own demands were unheeded. In the national Reichsrath 
the Slavs and the Germans became bitterly hostile to each other. 
A political crisis seemed imminent. Hence, in order to remove 
dissension, von Beust resigned on November 6, 1871. He had 
been made a count in 1868 and he was now sent to London 
as a foreign ambassador. His name will always be associated 
with the beginning of Austria's new and liberal regime. 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 145 



Count Andrassy, a Hungarian statesman, was appointed his 
successor with the title, Minister of Foreign Affairs and of the 
Imperial Household for the whole monarchy. In 1879, Count 
Andrassy resigned and was succeeded by Baron Haymerle, 
whose administration only lasted till 1881. Count Kalnoky 
was then appointed to the vacant position, and he filled it 
with such eminent ability that he was continued in the office 
for fourteen years. He was followed by Count Golchowski 
in 1895. Under these various ministers the Dual Monarchy 
prospered and made progress in many directions. But so dis- 
tinct are the affairs of Austria and Hungary that they demand 
a separate treatment. For each monarchy has its own govern- 
ment, its own policy, its own peculiar problems to face and 
difficulties to overcome. Of the two countries Austria, as hav- 
ing the more distinguished history, may first engage attention. 

By the Constitution which had been granted during von 
Beust's administration the government of Austria was partially 
placed in the hands of the people. But for a time the members 
of the lower Keichsrath, or popular assembly, were chosen by 
the Diets of the different provinces of the empire, and not 
directly by the voters of the nation. After a few years this 
method was changed, but the suffrage was not made universal. 
Four groups of electors were established, and a property quali- 
fication was required. Hence the total number of voters was 
not large when compared with the total number of male adults 
in the Empire. Nor was the Lower House able to exercise full 
control over affairs. Constitutionally it possessed unlimited 
legislative power, but this power the Emperor was sometimes 
able to usurp. For so many factions existed that it was almost 
always possible for him to form a combination in his own favor 
which would have a majority in the House. 

That parliamentary government should not at once work 
perfectly was the natural result of the long years of despotic 
rule. Equally natural was it that the standard of official 
integrity should not be high. Those who received civil ap- 
pointments regarded their positions as sources of private gain. 
They held the mediaeval idea of government, believing that it 
existed for the benefit of a privileged few. They could not 
understand that public office was a public trust. 

No more could the Government itself shake off mediaeval 



146 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

traditions and thoroughly abandon despotic ways. It still 
considered that the people needed to be watched. Absolute 
freedom of thought and speech it was not willing to allow. 
Hence, a system of espionage was still maintained. The police 
noted the doings of individuals as carefully as in the days of 
Metternich's rule, and over the press they exercised a vigorous 
censorship. The papers were not allowed to publish articles 
offensive to the Government. 

The progress of Austria has, therefore, had sharp limitations 
ever since the liberal regime was instituted in 1867. Yet the 
era of progress soon began. Educational and domestic reforms 
were inaugurated. The business of administration was effi- 
ciently managed. De Laveleye, in travelling through Austria 
in 1882, received the impression that it was an exceedingly 
well-governed country.^ Population increased. The volume 
of exports and imports grew larger. The Liberal party in the 
Reichsrath was strong, though not always in the ascendant. A 
powerful and well-equipped standing army was maintained, 
and in 1879 an alliance with Germany was made which Italy 
also joined in 1882. But peaceful relations with all powers 
were steadily cultivated. 

The only war Austria has engaged in since 1866 is her strug- 
gle with Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878. These provinces 
she was empowered to occupy and administer by the Congress 
of Berlin. But Bosnia fiercely opposed the Austrian advance 
into her territory, and was only subdued after sharp fighting. 
Herzegovina submitted more quietly, though not without offer- 
ing some resistance. Having occupied the provinces and given 
them the benefits of a progressive rule, Austria practically 
made them her own. They are now considered a part of the 
empire, though annexation was not authorized by the Berlin 
Congress. 

During recent years Austria has passed a number of reform 
measures, one of the most important of them being the Electoral 
Reform Bill of 1896. By its provisions the number of depu- 
ties in the Lower Reichsrath was raised from 353 to 425, 72 
of whom were to be elected by the male citizens who are 
twenty-four years old and own homes in which they have re- 
sided for six months. Though this is by no means universal 
1 " The Balkan Peuiusula," Chs. I.-III. 



PART II AUSTRIA-HUNGARY I47 

siiffrage, it is a stride in that direction. Indeed, in the elec- 
tion of the 72 members specially provided for in the bill the 
suffrage is nearly universal. In this year (1896) a scheme of 
currency reform was also carried through. But progress is 
not made without difficulty. The Conservatives and the Cleri- 
cals sometimes combine to oppose liberal measures, and their 
influence in the Reichsrath is considerable. The Clericals are 
strongly anti-Semitic, and their power seems to be increasing 
In the municipal elections held in Vienna in 1896 they gained 
a sweeping victory, 96 of their candidates being elected against 
42 Liberals. 

But no one party seems likely to command a majority in the 
Reichsrath. The groups in that body are almost as numerous 
as the races in the Empire, and they keep alive the spirit of 
faction. Race rather than political principles gives parties their 
rallying cry. Hence the race problem is for Austria a very 
serious one. In the Empire there are about 25,000,000 people, 
of whom 9,000,000 are Germans, 6,000,000 Czechs, 4,000,000 
Poles, 3,000,000 Ruthenians, 1,000,000 Slowenians, 700,000 
Italians, 650,000 Croats and Serbs, 200,000 Rumanians, 500,000 
other nationalities. But though the Germans are the most 
numerous, the most widespread, and the most cultivated of any 
of these races, they cannot dominate the other elemetits and 
force their language and civilization upon them. That they are 
anxious to do this, however, recent events have made evident; 
for the language ordinance issued in May, 1897, roused the 
united and vehement opposition of the Germans, not only in the 
Chamber itself, but all over the Empire. 

Count Badeni, the head of the Austrian Ministry, was the 
author of the obnoxious decree which opened all courts in 
Bohemia to lawsuits in the Czech tongue, and required all 
German officials in Bohemia to learn Czech within four years. 
Before this German had been the official language in Bohemia, 
and the German officials there monopolized the offices and all 
the advantages that go with official position. But Count 
Badeni's ordinance threatened to deprive them of their prestige 
and influence in Bohemia by making Czech as well as German 
the official language. The Germans therefore denounced it 
fiercely in the Reichsrath, and resolved to resort to all possible 
means to compel its withdrawal. Kor was their opposition to 



148 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

the decree unreasonable, for it had been issued by the Ministry 
without the Emperor's signature, and it violated the Constitu- 
tion, according to which a law of national import should apply 
to all Austria and not to a single province. 

The German members of the Reichsrath forgot all sense of 
decorum in fighting against this ordinance, and made the 
Reichsrath a wild scene of tumult and disorder. Parliamen- 
tary business accordingly became impossible, and on June 3, 
1897, the session was brought to an end. But when the 
Reichsrath met again in September, the German element, 
instead of mending its unseemly ways, became still more 
uproarious and violent. The Ausgleich, as well as the language 
ordinance, now roused its antagonism and moved it to take 
a determined and persistent stand for German rights and 
privileges. The Ausgleich is the adjustment of international 
relations by which Austria and Hungary manage their common 
affairs. It was first established when the Dual Monarchy 
came into existence, and it is renewed every ten years. Among 
other things it settles the amount that each nation shall pay to 
the common fund; and it was just this question of taxation 
that now rendered the renewal of the Ausgleich difficult. For 
Hungary had gained in wealth and prosperity more rapidly 
than Austria, and it was therefore fitting that Hungary's con- 
tribution to the common treasury should be increased and 
Austria's lightened. But the governments of the two countries 
found it difiicult to make a new adjustment that would be 
mutually satisfactory, and agreed to recommend a renewal of 
the existing Ausgleich for a year. 

As this arrangement was to Hungary's advantage, the Hun- 
garian Parliament voted on October 21, 1897, in favor of re- 
newal, though the vote was by no means unanimous. A strong 
party in the Hungarian Reichsrath, headed by Francis Kossuth, 
is desirous of making Hungary wholly independent of Austria; 
and it therefore opposed the renewal of the Ausgleich. As 
its opposition was considered factious, it was not able to com- 
mand a majority; but what it failed to compass was accom- 
plished in the Austrian Parliament. The Austrians looked 
upon the Ausgleich then existing as an injustice to their nation, 
and stoutly refused to renew it even for a year. Indeed, the 
proposal to renew it caused a stormy outbreak in the Reichsrath, 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 149 



and brought the German party to the front as the champions 
of national privilege. It was in opposing the Ausgleich and 
upholding the rights of the Germans in Austria that Dr. Liiger 
made his famous twelve hours' speech. 

The language ordinance was finally modified in March, 1898, 
and in June, 1899, the difficulties over the Ausgleich were set- 
tled by compromise, it being agreed that the existing Ausgleich 
should stand until 1907, after it had been subjected to certain 
changes which placed Hungary on an equality with Austria 
in its financial and foreign relations. But the turbulence occa- 
sioned by these burning questions was significant. It showed 
that Austria was not a united nation, and that disintegration 
might easily take place where so ■ many races were held in 
imperfect union. The Germans showed themselves strong and 
aggressive during the period of national excitement ; but the 
other races look upon them with jealousy. They have, more- 
over, to count upon the hostility of the Church, for the priests 
dislike the Germans on account of their freedom of thought.^ 
The Slavs and the Poles retain their own strong individuality 
and race characteristics, and obstruct the consolidation of the 
Empire. The Czechs are eager to obtain their independence, 
for they look back upon the days when Bohemia was a kingdom 
with its own elected monarch. Similar aspirations are cher- 
ished by the Poles of Galicia ; and the Slavs in the southern 
districts resent their subjection to a German dynasty. A wise 
policy is therefore needed to keep the Empire from falling 
asunder. The various provinces should be brought more and 
more under one central rule, or they should be allowed partial 
independence and formed into a strong federation. But the 
Emperor Francis Joseph has not worked persistently toward 
either of these ends.^ 

Hungary has not been behind Austria in legislative reforms 
and in educational and industrial progress. The Hungarians 
used to be considered a backward people, but they no longer 
deserve this reputation. They are energetic, alert, and eager 
to keep in touch with modern ideas. Elementary education is 
compulsory, and universities and technical schools of a high 
grade of excellence have been established. The literary activ- 

1 "Governments and Parties of Continental Europe," II. 19. 
^ Ibid., 11.119. 



150 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

ity of the country is considerable, the annual issue of books 
being large and embracing nearly every department of author- 
ship. At the same time Hungary produces no writers of gen- 
ius whose works are read all over the civilized world. She 
achieves greater things in music than in literature, some of her 
composers being widely celebrated. The material prosperity 
of the country is in keeping with its progressive tendencies 
and its intellectual energy. Imports and exports are increas- 
ing. The mining and manufacturing industries are in a flour- 
ishing condition. In particular iron and coal are produced in 
great quantities, and iron manufacture is growing rapidly. 

But Hungary as well as Austria has its troublesome race 
problem. For in Himgary dwell Slavs, Germans, and Ruma- 
nians, as well as Magyars, and these sturdy races cannot easily 
be amalgamated. Yet it is precisely this task of amalgamation 
that Hungary is attempting. The Magyars are considerably 
more numerous than any other race in the kingdom, numbering 
about 7,500,000 against 2,000,000 Germans, 3,000,000 Ruma- 
nians, and above 5,000,000 Croats, Serbs, and other Slavs. Pos- 
sessing this superiority in numbers, the Magyars are determined 
to make their own race dominant over all the rest. Exactly 
what Austria once tried to do to them they are now attempting 
to do to the non-Hungarian portion of the population. They 
wish to denationalize it and make it thoroughly Hungarian, so 
that the civilization of the country may ultimately have a uni- 
form tone and character. And in this endeavor they are largely 
successful, though not yet wholly so. The Germans are too 
scattered to offer much resistance to the fierce nationalism of 
the Magyars. Some of them indeed leave the country rather 
than submit to the overbearing character of the Magyar rule. 
But the Rumanians stoutly cling to their own national ways 
of thought and life, and the task of making Hungarians of them 
is extremely difficult. They have less mental vigor than the 
Magyars, but greater stubbornness of temper.^ While the Hun- 

1 "Few races possess in such a marked degree the blind and immovable 
sense of nationality which characterizes the Rumanians : they hardly ever 
mingle with surrounding races, far less adopt manners and customs foreign to 
their own ; and it is a remarkable fact that the seemingly stronger-minded 
and more manly Hungarians are absolutely powerless to influence them even 
in cases of intermarriage. Thus, the Hungarian woman who weds a Ruma- 
nian husband will necessarily adopt the dress and manners of his people, and 



PART 11 AUSTEIA-HUNGARY 161 

garians rule them with a strong hand and force their own civil- 
ization upon them, they have reason to hold them in dread. 
Increasing rapidly, never changing their ideas and absorbing 
rather than being absorbed, they render to the Hungarians an 
external submission without losing their race characteristics. 
They cringe, yet defy. So, even when overmastered, they may 
still be gaining on their rulers. But so far a^ appearances go, 
the Hungarians are bringing Transylvania completely under 
their laws and institutions. 

More difficult to control are the Croatians in the southwest 
portion of the kingdom. This people actively and openly 
resists the Hungarian supremacy. The Croatians have de- 
manded and obtained a larger measure of independence than 
has been granted to any other people under Magyar rule ; but 
they are still unsatisfied and are inclined to make trouble. 
In 1897 their disaffection assumed such a serious character 
that twelve districts in Croatia were placed under martial law. 
Nor was it in Croatia alone that the spirit of sedition showed 
itself. The spread of agrarian socialism had caused wide dis- 
content among the working-classes ; and in July of this year 
there was an extensive strike of the harvesters in central Hun- 
gary, who demanded higher wages, shorter hours, freedom of 
speech, and the right of combination. Alarmed at their dem- 
onstrations, the Government interfered in behalf of the 
employers and reestablished order; but even in doing so it 
antagonized the Radicals and Socialists, on whom it depended 
for support against Clerical influence. 

Thus it appears that Hungary as well as Austria is torn by 
dissension, and finds the obstacles in the way of homogeneity 
wellnigh insuperable. It is possible that the Hungarian spirit 
may in the end become dominant throughout the kingdom in 
spite of the resistance it encounters ; but this result, if attained, 
must be the work of years and perhaps of generations. Nor is 
it by any means certain that the two monarchies will long 

her children will be as good Rumanians as though they had no drop of Hun- 
garian blood in their veins ; while the Magyar who takes a Rumanian girl for 
his wife will not only fail to convert her to his ideas, but himself, subdued by 
her influence, will imperceptibly begin to lose his nationality. This is a fact 
well known and much lamented by the Hungarians themselves, who live in 
anticipated apprehension of seeing their people dissolving into Rumanians." 
E. Gerard's " The Land beyond the Forest," Ch. XXIV. 



152 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

hold together. The Hungarians are not satisfied, even though 
they have ahnost complete independence, and the movement 
headed by Francis Kossuth, though sometimes defeated, as in 
the case of the renewal of the Ausgleich, may gather strength 
and become formidable. Even the smallest encroachment upon 
Hungarian rights and privileges causes deep resentment. When 
it was proclaimed that all military commands were to be given 
in German, the students of Budapest marched in procession 
through the streets to express their indignation, and angry 
protests were heard all over Hungary. The advent of a weak 
sovereign, therefore, might bring the union of the two mon- 
archies to an end. 

The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary is governed by the 
Emperor of Austria, who is also King of Hungary, and by a 
body representing both monarchies, termed the Delegations. 
The powers of the Emperor-King are limited by the Constitu- 
tions of the two monarchies, which force him to govern in ac- 
cordance with the will of each people as expressed by its legis- 
lature. The Delegations has control over foreign affairs, over 
the joint finances of the two monarchies, and over army affairs 
and war. It is composed of 120 members, 60 of whom repre- 
sent Austria and 60 Hungary. The members are chosen by 
the two National Parliaments, each Upper House electing 20 
and each Lower House 40. The Delegations sits alternately 
at Vienna and at Budapest. 

Austria has a National Legislature and a number of Provin- 
cial Diets, each of which is composed of a single Chamber and 
legislates concerning local matters. The National Legislature 
consists of an Upper and a Lower House, and is termed the 
Reichsrath. In the Upper House sit princes of the imperial 
family, a number of hereditary nobles, archbishops and bish- 
ops, and life members appointed by the Emperor. The Lower 
House is composed of 425 members, elected by different constit- 
uencies, but in no case by universal suffrage. It chooses its 
own presiding officer. To be valid a bill must be passed by 
both Houses and receive the approval of the Emperor. 

The legislature of Hungary consists of the House of Mag- 
nates and the House of Representatives. The former body is 
made up of hereditary peers, archbishops and bishops of the 
Catholic and Greek Churches, eleven representatives of the 



PAKT II AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 153 

Protestant faith, life peers appointed by the Crown, and sixteen 
members ex-offido. The members of the House of Representa- 
tives are chosen for five years by a suffrage limited by a slight 
property qualification. In both Austria and Hungary the execu- 
tive is composed of a number of responsible ministers, each of 
whom is at the head of some important State department. Both 
countries allow entire freedom of worship, though in Austria 
the Roman Catholic religion is recognized as that of the State. 
The annual expenditure of Austria is a little above $300,000,- 
000, that of Hungary about $230,000,000 ; while Austria has a 
special debt of $610,000,000, and Hungary of $1,035,000,000. 
The army of the Dual Monarchy is one of the largest and most 
efficient in Europe, as in case of war it could put 1,300,000 
men in the field. Its navy is small when compared with that 
of England or France, numbering only about a dozen first-class 
ships of war and protected cruisers. But it is increased by new 
vessels from year to year. 

Liechtenstein 

Smaller than Andorra and only a little more populous, this 
quiet German state goes unnoticed from year to year. Over- 
shadowed by Austria, upon whose border it lies, its people are 
buried under the traditions and customs of the past, and their 
pulses are not stirred by the political restlessness of the times. 
But their country, which had formerly belonged to the Ger- 
manic Confederation, was made a constitutional monarchy in 
1862, and its form of government therefore calls for brief men- 
tion. It is ruled by the head of the House of Liechtenstein — 
a House which has held the princely rank for nearly three 
hundred years. The legislative authority is vested in the 
Prince and in a Diet of fifteen members, who are chosen for 
six years, three of them by the Prince himself and twelve by 
the people. Although considered an independent state, the 
principality is not absolutely autonomous ; for Austria controls 
its customs, its currency, and its postal system, and, through 
a court of chancellery at Vienna, exercises some direction of 
its affairs. With its area of sixty-eight square miles and its 
population of about 10,000, it needs no standing army and its 
people are exempt from military service. They are also freed 
from the burden of direct taxation. 



CHAPTER II 

THE BALKAN STATES 

The country which lies south of the eastern portion of the 
Danube has had an eventful history. In that region of rugged 
mountains and fertile valleys civilizations have flourished and 
decayed, kingdoms have waxed great only to decline and fall, 
and invading races have wandered in search of a home. But 
of steady growth there has been little. The country has not 
been able to work out its destiny under the lead of one domi- 
nant and powerful race. Rather has it been a scene of confu- 
sion and bloody conflict ever since the Greeks and the Persians 
closed at Marathon nearly twenty-four centuries ago. For 
that deadly struggle was a prelude to the history of South- 
eastern Europe down to the present day. Separated from 
Asia merely by a narrow strait, this land has been the meet- 
ing-ground of two hostile civilizations, and within its borders 
they have come together with a shock that has echoed around 
the world. Bulgarians, Magyars, and other Turanian peoples 
came down from the lands north of the Euxine ; the Ottomans 
and the Seljuks entered from Asia Minor or from the Medi- 
terranean Sea. So one invading horde followed another across 
this rich but ill-fated region, and it could enjoy no settled 
peace. And when at last it fell wholly under the rule of a 
single power, it found itself beneath the feet of a merciless 
and cruel despot. The Ottoman Turk overran the whole Bal- 
kan Peninsula in the latter half of the seventeenth century, 
and he made it the scene of rapacity, barbarity, and slaughter. 
Its inhabitants were robbed of their goods and their children, 
tortured if they submitted, and tortured worse if they ventured 
to resist. Their sufferings make one of the darkest pages in 
history. Only little Montenegro with its impenetrable fast- 
nesses succeeded in defying the blood-stained Ottoman power. 

154 



PART II THE BALKAN STATES 155 

Consequently, there was no opportunity for political growth 
in this oppressed and afflicted country. Under Turkish mis- 
rule the peoples south of the Danube sat in dull despair for 
over three centuries. Sometimes they evaded their conquerors 
by resorting to the mountains ; but they could not reap the 
fruits of their own labors and cultivate the arts of peace and 
civilization. All that they acquired went to enrich the Turk, 
whose corrupt reign required endless contributions from his 
long-suffering subjects. So commerce and industry had but 
the scantiest encouragement. The people had no interest in 
becoming prosperous when prosperity simply invited spoli- 
ation. 

The whole Balkan Peninsula, then, was little better than a 
scene of desolation at the beginning of the nineteenth century, 
and here the ideas that brought on the French Eevolution were 
necessarily slow in making their way. What could these peoples 
know of self-government after centuries of tyranny and perse- 
cution ? To avoid the tax-gatherer was the height of their 
ambition. And yet some of these races were hardy and vigor- 
ous, and, in spite of their sufferings, had never learned to 
cringe to their oppressors. In their mountain homes they had 
cherished manly virtues, courage and independence ; and they 
were ready to take desperate chances in winning their freedom. 
Five principal races there were in European Turkey besides 
the Turks themselves. 

I. The Greeks, who, though possessing some Slavonic blood, 
were the undoubted descendants of the ancient Hellenes.^ Like 
their ancestors in classical times, they loved freedom and they 
were ready to fight and die for it. Three hundred years and 
more of submission to Turkey had not crushed their manhood. 
They occupied very much the same extent of country which 
was included in ancient Greece. 

II. To the north of the Greeks dwelt the Albanians. They 
are a branch of the old Ulyrian race, and a peculiarly sturdy 
and courageous people. Travellers have often noted their 
erect carriage and their haughty bearing. Like the Greek, 
they hated their Turkish masters, but, unlike the Greek, who 
loves to dissimulate, they are frank, direct, and sincere. Pos- 
sessing a lively temperament, they are fond of gayety and 

1 " Jebb's Modern Greece," p. 52. 



156 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

more addicted to the habits of the highwayman than to the 
settled occupations of peace. Both their faults and their 
virtues are those of a hardy but half-civilized people. 

III. The Vlachs, who, though their principal home is north 
of the Danube in Rumania and eastern Hungary, are also scat- 
tered over the Balkan Peninsula. Considerable numbers of 
them are to be found in northern Greece, Albania, Macedonia, 
and Bulgaria, and other districts south of the Danube. They 
belong to the Latin family of peoples, and their everyday 
speech is largely made up of Latin words. Quiet, peaceable, 
and industrious by nature, they do not share the fierce instincts 
of some of their warlike neighbors, though they prove good 
soldiers when tried on the field of battle. Wherever they 
dwell trade flourishes and the crafts of the artisan thrive. 
Their work in metal is especially good. 

IV. The Serbs, a Slavic people, who settled south of the 
Danube in the seventh century and founded the kingdom of 
Servia. Made hardy by centuries of conflict with Greeks, 
Turks, and other races, they possess much sturdy strength and 
great power of resistance. Though the Turks conquered them, 
they could not force them to give up their language and their 
religion. Living in great simplicity in their mountain forests, 
the Serbs have kept alive the homelier virtues, and have learned 
to admire courage above all things. Their national songs, 
which are numerous and stirring, extol the extraordinary feats 
of their legendary heroes. But they ply the vocations of peace 
with entire contentment, and easily maintain themselves in 
comfort by rude agriculture and by keeping herds of swine. 
This latter industry has long been a leading one in Servia, 
owing to its vast oak forests with their abundant supply of 
acorns. 

V. The races named above are Aryan, but peoples of the 
Turanian family have also settled in European Turkey. Nota- 
ble among these are the Bulgarians, who made their way south 
of the lower Danube in the latter part of the sixth century, 
and founded a kingdom by conquest. Bulgaria was a powerful 
state at the beginning of the tenth century, but its strength 
declined and its people lost their distinctive character. The 
Bulgarians were in time absorbed by the sturdier Slavs around 
them, and retained little besides their name to indicate their 



PART II THE BALKAN STATES 157 

Finnish origin. Their features still bespeak their Tartar 
blood, but their language and race characteristics are dis- 
tinctly Slavonic. Since they were freed from Turkish rapacity 
they have been a thriving, industrious, and progressive people. 
These various races suffered alike from Turkish oppression 
and cruelty, and were alike desirous of breaking away from a 
rule which brought them nothing but misery. But they could 
not unite to win their freedom. Concerted action was made 
impossible by distance, by mountain barriers, by the watch- 
fulness of the Turk, and by race jealousies. For some of these 
peoples hated each other almost as fiercely as they did the 
Turk. So the century has witnessed no grand and general 
uprising among these afflicted races. The European move- 
ment for freedom found its way across the Danube and the 
Balkans, but it did not cause a flame of insurrection to run 
north and south and east and west over the whole peninsula. 
One by one the states of southeastern Europe have broken 
away from their oppressor. Little by little has the power of 
Turkey been curtailed, and her right to rob and murder inno- 
cent peoples been taken away. It is therefore impossible to 
give a connected account of this brave struggle for liberty, with 
its mingled horrors and deeds of heroism. Each state that 
has gained independence must be treated by itself. Five such 
states there are, but it is not to be inferred from this that each 
of the five peoples above enumerated succeeded in becoming a 
free and separate power ; for such was not the case. The 
states are ; — 

I. Servia 

Goaded to desperation by Turkish cruelty, the Servians re- 
belled against their oppressors early in the century. In 1804 
they began their struggle for freedom under the lead of a 
remarkable man, who is known in Servian history as Kard- 
jordje, or Black George. His true name was George Petrovitch. 
Born of peasant origin about the year 1766, he showed courage 
and generalship of a high order in defying the formidable 
power of Turkey. For his resources were of the scantiest. 
Russia gave him secret encouragement, but his army was 
nothing but a brave band of Servian peasants. As for the 



158 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

Servian nobility, there was none. It had been destroyed or 
driven out of the country by the brutality of the Turk. But 
unequal as the conflict seemed, Black George, by his activity 
and daring, finally came out victorious. He drove the Turks 
out of Servia, which for a short time enjoyed the first taste 
of freedom it had had for centuries. But in 1813 the Turks 
reconquered the country, Russia being too busily engaged in 
the conflict with Napoleon to give the Servians further assist- 
ance. Black George fled to Austria for safety, and when he 
reentered Servia in 1817 he was murdered at the instigation 
of Milosh Obrenovitch, who was jealous of his power and 
influence among the peasantry. But Milosh himself now 
headed the rebellion against Turkey, and proved to be a brave 
and efficient leader. Baffled in all their attempts to subdue 
him, the Turks gave up the struggle after continuing it for 
more than ten years. In 1829 the Sultan granted indepen- 
dence to Servia, and recognized Milosh as its Prince. In 
the following year the dignity was made hereditary in his 
family. But Servia was still obliged to pay a yearly tribute 
to the Porte. 

In thus changing masters, the Servians did not gain all that 
they had Avished; for Milosh, a man of coarse instincts and 
rough nature, governed them in a harsh and despotic manner. 
Moreover the Russians, who had helped to free the country, 
now attempted to direct and control its affairs. Their in- 
fluence soon became dominant, and from that time to the 
present day Russian intrigue has been unceasingly active at 
the court of Servia. Milosh himself found his powers crip- 
pled and curtailed by the machinations of Russia, and in 
1839 he was forced to resign in favor of his son, Milan. But 
Milan died after reigning for a few weeks, and was succeeded 
by his younger brother Michael, who was at this time in exile 
with his father. First visiting Constantinople and receiving 
the approval of the Porte, Michael entered Belgrade in triumph, 
on March 15, 1840, and began his reign with good courage. 
But he found himself confronted with formidable enemies. 
The Senate, which had originally been established by Russian 
influence to cripple the power of his father, the agents of 
Russia at the Servian court, the widow of Black George and 
his son, Alexander, and some of the most influential politicians 



PART II THE BALKAN STATES 159 

of Servia, all worked against him. For two years Michael 
struggled hopelessly against this opposition, and when an in- 
surrection broke out against him in September, 1842, he relin- 
quished the throne, and the House of Obrenovitch was declared 
deposed. Black George's son, Alexander, who had intrigued 
to some purpose, was now made Prince of Servia ; but he 
was no more successful than the House of Obrenovitch in unit- 
ing the warring factions of his country. In December, 1858, 
a revolution drove him into exile ; and Milosh, who had been 
living abroad for nearly twenty years, was restored to his 
former dignity. Upon his death, in 1860, Michael for a sec- 
ond time succeeded to the throne. Made wiser by travel and 
experience, he now gave the country an enlightened and ac- 
ceptable rule. But misfortune seems to pursue the members 
of this house. On June 10, 1868, he was assassinated near Bel- 
grade by the agents of his predecessor, Alexander, and the 
throne passed to his cousin Milan in 1872. Born in 1854, 
Milan was at this time only eighteen years of age. Qualified 
neither by nature nor experience to be a successful ruler, he 
was unable to guide his country through the difficulties that 
arose during his reign. Some forward steps were indeed taken. 
In 1868 and 1869 a new Constitution was framed which vested 
the powers of government in the Prince and a National Assem- 
bly, foreign trade was increased,^ aiid in 1878, as a result of 
the war between Russia and Turkey in which Servia had taken 
part (p. 188), complete independence of Turkey was acquired. 
So Servia was released from the obligation of paying an 
annual tribute to the Porte ; and in 1882 her Prince was by 
proclamation elevated to the rank of King. But many cir- 
cumstances conspired to make the reign of Milan a failure. 
The Russians continued to foment discord at the Servian 
court; the national debt increased; and an unfortunate war 
with Bulgaria in 1885 brought disaster and humiliation. For 
the Servians, after attacking Bulgaria Avithout good reason, 
were badly defeated and forced to seek protection from Aus- 
tria-Hungary. Moreover the domestic relations of King Milan 
and Queen Nathalie were most unhappy and became a national 
scandal. The royal pair were divorced in 1888, and in 1889 
King Milan abdicated in favor of his young son, Alexander, 
1 De Laveleye, " The Balkan Peninsula," p. 192. 



160 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

and withdrew from a kingdom where his presence caused 
nothing but quarrels and dissension. As Alexander was born 
in 1876, he was too young to govern, and the royal prerogatives 
were for several years exercised by a regency. But in 1893 
Alexander, though he had not yet reached his majority, as- 
sumed control of affairs. His reign, however, has brought no 
strength to his country. Servia continues to be the seat of 
intrigue; factional strife disturbs her quiet; unwise expendi- 
ture adds to her national indebtedness. In 1897 ex-King 
Milan reentered the kingdom ; but he was so little respected 
that his presence did not cause serious disturbance. 

Altogether, popular government has been tried in Servia 
under very adverse conditions. The Servians have not been 
truly independent, even though their subjection to Turkey 
ceased early in the century. Their position, like that of other 
Slavic peoples along the Danube, is a trying and difficult one. 
The numerous Slavic races that are scattered throughout 
Austria-Hungary and the Balkan Peninsula can neither unite 
nor pursue their separate destinies unmolested. Aspirations 
after unity are not, indeed, lacking among them. Often has 
the cry of Panslavism been raised ; but no practical scheme for 
bringing the various Slavic peoples into one nation or one 
federation has ever been proposed. But, on the other hand, 
either as small separate nations or as portions of larger coun- 
tries like Austria and Hungary, these peoples are obliged to 
live under galling conditions. They cannot assert themselves 
vigorously without realizing their own powerlessness. The 
Slavs in Hungary are subjected to a strong but distasteful 
Magyar influence (p. 151) ; the Servians are tied hand and foot 
by Russia and other great powers. Servia would never be 
allowed to take a step that would imperil the peace of the 
Balkan Peninsula; nor is she permitted to manage her own 
affairs according to her own free will and pleasure. Russia 
watches her day and night, keeps agents at her court, and 
exercises a controlling influence upon her domestic affairs. 
Her political future is not promising; but her people mean- 
while live a quiet and industrious life and grow in the arts of 
civilization. 

Servia has an area of 19,050 square miles, and a population 
of about 2,500,000. By the Constitution adopted in 1889 the 



PART 11 THE BALKAN STATES 161 

powers of government are vested in a King assisted by a Coun- 
cil of eight Ministers, and two legislative Houses : an Upper 
House, called the State Council, or Senate, of sixteen members, 
half of whom are nominated by the King and half are chosen 
by the Assembly ; and a Lower House, called the National 
Assembly, whose members are elected by the people. The 
right of suffrage is exercised by every male Servian twenty-one 
years old who pays fifteen dinans (about $3) in direct taxes. 
Elementary education is free and compulsory. The people are 
chiefly engaged in agriculture, but Servia has considerable 
mineral wealth, which will in time lead to the development 
of manufacturing industries. Some factories are already in 
operation.^ 

II. Greece 

The second people to throw of£ the yoke of the Turks was 
the Greeks. Tlieir condition was unfortunate in the extreme 
at the beginning of the century. Their harbors were unused 
and blocked with sand ; their mountains were the homes of 
brigands; their ambition seemed to have perished. Yet the 
race had not lost its love of liberty. The very practice of 
brigandage had kept alive courage and daring, and the klephts, 
as the brigands were called, had remained unsubdued in their 
rocky homes. It was among this class that the love of free- 
dom and the willingness to fight for it existed most strongly. 

And even the peasantry throughout the country, broken- 
spirited though they were, could not wholly forget their 
glorious past. The French Revolution wakened in them some 
patriotic feeling. Patriotic songs circulated among the people 
and fired their national spirit. As in Italy, a secret society 
prepared the way for insurrection, and in 1821 the struggle 
for independence began. But the Greeks, true to their ancient 
political instincts, did not take up arms without giving their 
movement a character of legality and order. In January, 
1822, the first National Assembly of Greece, numbering sixty- 
seven members, met at Epidaurus, proclaimed the Greek nation 
independent of Turkey, framed a Constitution, and vested the 

^ De Laveleye was of the opinion that Servia should confine her energies to 
agriculture; "The Balkan Peninsula," p. 198. 



162 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

powers of government in a Senate of thirty-three members and 
an Executive Council of five. Thus Greece, though she had 
still to win her freedom, took her place among the countries 
which recognized the sovereign will of the people. 

Freedom was finally gained after six years of fighting, but 
the conflict was bloody and desperate. Aided by a force of 
Arabs sent from Egypt, the Turks carried everything before 
them in the earlier years of the war. But their massacres and 
cold-blooded atrocities roused an intense feeling of indignation 
against them throughout Europe. Lord Byron went to the aid 
of the Greeks in 1823; and though he died before he had 
served long among them, his example was a tower of strength 
to their cause. It was followed by other lovers of liberty, 
who flocked to Greece from many lands and brought hope and 
inspiration to the struggling patriots. Above all. Canning lent 
Greece the weight of England's influence and interested France 
and Russia in her behalf, the latter power being also strongly 
influenced by selfish considerations. In 1827 the allied fleets 
appeared off the coast of Greece to act as a check upon Turkish 
barbarity. Being fired upon by the Turkish fleet in the harbor 
of Navarino on October 20, they returned the fire till few of 
the Turkish vessels were left to tell the tale of disaster. Thus 
by an " untoward event," as the Duke of Wellington termed 
this splendid triumph of the allies, the independence of Greece 
was virtually secured. The Sultan was awed by the interfer- 
ence of such powerful nations, and when Russia made war 
upon him in 1828, he abandoned his conflict with a people 
whom the sufferings of six years had not subdued. 

Not all at once, however, could the Greeks arrange definite 
terms of peace nor establish a settled form of government. In 
1827 they had changed their Constitution and appointed a 
single executive. John Capodistrias, a native of Corfu, was 
chosen President for seven years ; but, though Greece had thus 
seemingly become a Republic, her destiny really depended upon 
the action of the three great powers which had secured her 
freedom and which still considered her under their protection. 
And the powers would not allow her to be a Republic. To 
conciliate Metternich, always an enemy to democracy, and to 
humor the Sultan, who was loath to see the nation that had been 
subject to him become a self-governing state, they recognized 



PART II THE BALKAN STATES 163 

G-reece as a kingdom by the Protocol of London, issued on 
February 3, 1830 ; and they also deprived her of territory that 
was rightfully hers. Some of the northern districts, which 
were inhabited by Greeks and which had furnished no incon- 
siderable portion of the patriot forces, were made over to 
Turkey. 

But for the kingdom thus curtailed and thus arbitrarily 
constituted without reference to the wishes of its people, it was 
not easy to find a King; and meanwhile Capodistrias ruled 
the country with an iron hand. For a number of years before 
lie was elected President he had been in the employ of the 
Tsar. Indeed, it was as Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Russia 
that he had been able to help his countrymen in their struggle 
for independence, and had displayed the ability which they 
rewarded by making him their executive. But his Russian 
training now worked to his disadvantage. It made him arbi- 
trary and despotic, and was the cause of his undoing. For the 
high-spirited Greeks would not brook his arrogance, and two 
members of the Mavromichales family, whom he had goaded 
to desperation by his injustice, assassinated him in 1831. 

But nearly a year passed after his death before Greece 
obtained a King. Already had the crown been offered to 
Prince John of Saxony and Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, 
but it was declined by both, — by the latter largely because 
Crete, which he considered an essential part of Greece, was 
not included in the boundaries of the new kingdom. Nor was 
it deemed wise or even possible to bestow the royal office upon 
a Greek ; for his countrymen, with their strong democratic 
instincts, would not have endured to see one of their number 
thus elevated above them. So it was necessary to seek a for- 
eign prince, and one was finally found in Otto of Bavaria, who 
accepted the offered dignity, and arrived in Greece on Feb- 
ruary 6, 1833. But though he was welcomed with enthusiasm 
by the Greek people, he proved a most unsatisfactory King. 
Unfortunately, in the covenant make between him and the 
Greek nation, no stipulation was made that he should rule in 
accordance with the Constitution. Moreover, he was not quite 
eighteen years old when he landed in Greece, and he had been 
brought up in a despotic court ; so his training and his lack of 
experience were against him. 



164 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

It was not strange that he soon alienated the people who 
had so cordially received him. He governed without regard 
to the Constitution, and he bestowed the most important offices 
upon Bavarians whom he brought with him into Greece ; while to 
the Greeks themselves he gave no voice in the conduct of their 
affairs. Such arrogance could have but one outcome. In 1843 
the Greeks rebelled against this arbitrary monarch and forced 
him to dismiss his Bavarian followers. Realizing that he must 
make ample concessions or resign his power, Otto promised to 
govern through responsible ministers and a representative 
assembly. But this promise he failed to keep. The Greeks 
found that they were simply the creatures of a foreign task- 
master, who persistently abused his power. So they drove 
him out of Greece in 1862 and looked for a truly constitutional 
sovereign. Their choice fell upon Prince Alfred of England, 
who received almost the entire vote of the nation. But this 
choice was condemned by England, France, and Russia. In 
taking Greece under their protection these powers had agreed 
that no member of their own reigning families should sit upon 
the throne of Greece. So the Greeks were obliged to select 
another prince, and they chose Prince Wilhelm, the second son 
of the present King of Denmark, who was proclaimed King 
under the title of George I., on March 30, 1863. This selec- 
tion was approved by England, France, and Russia, and on 
October 30 of this same year King George arrived at Athens. 
On the following day he swore to support the Constitution ; and 
to this oath he has been true, as he has not, like his father 
(p. 230), defied the written law of the land. 

Under his rule commerce has increased, education has been 
encouraged, and brigandage, which was widely practised thirty 
years ago, has been suppressed. Greece has become a prosper- 
ous country under this liberal sovereign, but by no means a 
contented one. The Greeks have steadily cherished hopes for 
national aggrandizement ; but those hopes, far from becoming 
fully realized, have ended in disaster and humiliation. In two 
directions the Greeks looked for increase of territory. They 
desired to annex Crete, and to push their northern boundary 
forward so that it might include Thessaly, and even Macedo- 
nia and adjacent tracts. Accordingly, when the Cretans 
revolted from Turkey in 1866, the Greeks took a profound 



PART II THE BALKAN STATES 165 

interest in the movement and tried to direct it to their own 
advantage. But their efforts failed. Crete was subjugated by 
the Porte in 1869 ; nor were charges wanting that the Greeks, 
instead of helping the struggling Cretans, had played into the 
hands of the Turks when they found that their scheme for 
annexing the island was impracticable.^ Again, in 1878, when 
the Berlin Treaty was made, Greece suffered further disap- 
pointment. While Turkey was absorbed in its conflict with 
Russia, the Greeks had raised an insurrection in Thessaly 
with the hope of adding it to their own territory. The insur- 
rection was brought to a sudden end through British interven- 
tion ; but the Greeks expected that their boundaries would be 
greatly enlarged when the powers met to settle the questions 
arising from the Russo-Turkish War. But to their great 
indignation the powers would do nothing for them at the Ber- 
lin conference. It was not till 1881 that the Sultan, acting 
under foreign pressure, ceded Thessaly to Greece ; Macedonia, 
which the Greeks claimed with doubtful justice, was still 
included in the boundaries of Turkey. 

But the day of national shame and sorrow came in 1897. 
For at the end of 1895 an insurrection again broke out among 
the Christian inhabitants of Crete, and very soon all Greece 
was aflame with excitement. The time for annexing the 
island seemed to have come. King George was forced into 
espousing the Cretan cause, and in February, 1897, he de- 
spatched a Greek squadron to aid the insurgents. Alarmed 
by this action, which foreboded war between Greece and Tur- 
key, the powers attempted to coerce Greece, and prevent her 
from committing further acts of hostility against the Porte. 
But the ardor of the Greek nation could not be restrained. 
Once more did a secret society use all its influence to bring on 
a war with Turkey. The members of the Ethnike Hetairia, 
acting, as it subsequently pi-oved, under the direct advice of the 
Prime Minister, M. Delyannis, made raids across the frontier 
into Turkish territory and thus provoked the Turks to invade 
Greece. But the military prowess of the Greeks did not equal 
their enthusiasm. Their armies were no match for those of 
Turkey, and were steadily driven back from the frontier of 
Thessaly, where hostilities began. The war was formally 
1 The Nation, 64 : 200 and 433. 



166 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

declared on April 17; by May 20 the Greeks were completely 
vanquished. Indeed, they never had the smallest chance of 
success. The Greeks were poorly disciplined and poorly gen- 
eralled.^ Yet they fought gallantly, and their defeat was 
viewed with concern by the friends of civilization and prog- 
ress. For the Porte, flashed with victory, made extravagant 
claims upon its vanquished opponent. It demanded the 
cession of Thessaly, and an indemnity amounting to about 
$44,000,000. Not without great difficulty and much nego- 
tiation did the powers induce the Sultan to modify these 
demands. But he finally consented to fix the indemnity at 
£4,000,000 Turkish (about $17,600,000), and to accept in 
place of Thessaly a rectification of the frontier, which placed 
a number of important strategic positions in his possession. 
Accordingly, a treaty embodying these conditions was signed 
September 18, 1897 ; and, peace being thus firmly established, 
the country grew quiet, though the concessions made to Turkey 
were loudly condemned for a time and necessitated the resigna- 
tion of the JMinistry that had sanctioned them. 

But the troubles in Crete which had led to the war with 
Turkey still continued, and were only brought to an end by 
vigorous action on the part of the powers. In September, 
1898, the Mohammedan refugees in Crete killed one hundred 
British soldiers and massacred a thousand Christians, while 
the Turkish troops looked supinely on or even joined in the 
acts of wantonness and violence. The Sultan was therefore 
obliged to remove his troops from the island, and the powers 
took Crete under their own control while the appointment of a 
governor was pending. But in 1899 Prince George of Greece 
was made High Commissioner of Crete, and undertook the 
administration of its affairs. 

During the excitement that followed the reverses of the 

1 The democratic spirit that prevails among the Greeks seems to make it 
impossible to subject them to soldierly discipline. Their condition through- 
out the campaign of 1897 was like that of the army of the Potomac before 
General McClellan made it a well-ordered and efficient force. And there 
was the same laxity among the officials of the war department and the gen- 
erals in command that there was among the rank and file. " At no time 
was there a single strong mind dominating the Greek army." Consult " How 
the Greeks were Defeated," in the Foriini for November, 1897, especially 
p. 361, and " With the Greek Soldiers," in Harper's Magazine for November, 
1897. 



PART 11 THE BALKAN STATES 167 

Greeks in their struggle with Turkey, it was doubtful whether 
the royal family would not be driven from power. Always, 
indeed, in a great national crisis the position of King George 
seems insecure. For nearly three quarters of a century Greece 
has been subjected to foreign rule, and the experiment cannot 
be considered an unmixed success. Under the present Sover- 
eign the country has undoubtedly made rapid progress; but 
his own contribution to this progress, though great, has not 
been vital. The Greeks, with all their faults of dissimulation, 
selfishness, vanity, and hasty temper, are an alert, earnest, and 
ambitious people, industrious and thrifty, lovers of art and 
education, eager for improvement. It would therefore seem 
fairer and wiser to let them work out their own problems of 
self-government and constitutional development. Only in 
this way can they make a genuine contribution to political 
science. 

III. Rumania 

The Vlachs, or Eumans, have been too scattered to unite 
into a single nation. Those dwelling in Transylvania could 
hardly break away from Hungary ; and those whose home was 
south of the Danube were too widely distributed to have na- 
tional aspirations. But that portion of the race which lives 
east of the Carpathians and north of the lower Danube has had a 
more fortunate destiny. It has succeeded in forming a sepa- 
rate and independent state, which has an honorable place among 
the minor kingdoms of Europe. 

That kingdom is, as the sequel will show, of very recent ori- 
gin ; but the principalities of which it is composed have existed 
for more than six hundred years. In the thirteenth century 
Wallachia and Moldavia first came into being, and for a long 
time they maintained their independence. But the Ottoman 
power, with its hosts of fighting men, proved to be more than a 
match for them. They resisted it long and fiercely, but in 1511 
they were subjugated and became vassal provinces of the Otto- 
man Empire. So these Vlachs east of the Carpathians, like 
their kinsmen south of the Danube, became acquainted with 
Turkish rapacity. The hospodars, or governors, of Wallachia 
and Moldavia were appointed by the Sultan, and they ruled in 



168 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

the interest of their master rather than for the well-being of 
the provinces. 

Yet the Dannbian Principalities, as Wallachia and Moldavia 
were termed, did not suifer the worst consequences of Turkish 
misrule. They were separated by the Danube from the centre 
of the Ottoman tyranny, and they were on the border-land of 
Russia, that ancient foe of the Turkish Empire ; so their people 
did not sit down in blood and ashes to bewail their misery as 
often as the races which dwell round the Balkan Mountains. 
Accordingly, the dawn of the century did not find the Danu- 
bian Principalities in a restless condition ; and when the Greek 
insurrection broke out in 1821, these quiet and peaceable Vlachs 
did not rush into rebellion. Unfortunately for them, however, 
a Phanariot Greek, named Alexander Ypsilanti, entered Moldar- 
via and Wallachia, called upon the people to follow the exam- 
ple of the Greeks, and raised the standard of insurrection. He 
was coldly received, and he was soon overpowered by the 
Turkish forces and compelled to fly across the Carpathians 
into Transylvania; none the less the Turkish authority had 
been assailed and the Turkish thirst for vengeance was excited. 
The Janizaries were let loose upon the unhaj)py Principalities, 
and their inhabitants now tasted the horrors of that rule which 
they had not been willing to defy. But after a time the Tsar 
Nicholas interfered in their behalf and took the provinces un- 
der his protection, for he was loath to see regions which he 
might one day own wasted and despoiled. By the Treaty of 
Akerman, made between Russia and Turkey on September 4, 
1826, the hospodars of Wallachia and Moldavia were no longer 
to be absolutely under Turkish authority, and were not to be 
removed without the consent of the Russian Government. 

This was not independence, for the Porte still had the right 
to appoint the hospodars of the two Principalities ; but it was 
certainly a step toward freedom, and in 1858 a still more de- 
cided advance was made in the same direction. In that year 
it was determined by a conference of the powers at Paris that 
Wallachia and Moldavia should be allowed to elect their own 
hospodars, though the suzerainty of Turkey was still recognized, 
and the union which the provinces had been attempting to estab- 
lish was annulled. But it was in vain that the powers opposed 
a step that was natural and inevitable. The people of the two 



PART II THE BALKAN STATES 169 

Principalities were of the same blood ; they were determined 
to be one in name and destiny. Availing themselves of the per- 
mission of the powers to choose their own hospodar, the Prin- 
cipalities each elected the same ruler in 1859, Colonel Alexander 
Cuza, and thus made the way to union sure and easy. In 1861 
the union was accomplished, the two countries declaring them- 
selves one under the name of Eumania and obtaining the Porte's 
approval of the arrangement. 

But though union was effected under Prince Cuza, he proved 
but a sorry ruler. True, a new Constitution, extending the suf- 
frage, was adopted under his reign ; but his own power was 
increased at the same time, and his arbitrary use of it and his 
personal vices made him detested by the whole Rumanian peo- 
ple. So in 1866 he was compelled to abdicate. Prince Charles 
of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was chosen to succeed him, after 
the crown had been declined by the Count of Flanders ; and 
under his enlightened administration the country made steady 
progress. The authority of the Porte became more and more 
shadowy, until it was absolutely set aside. For in 1874 Austria, 
Germany, and Russia insisted on making separate treaties with 
Rumania in spite of the protests of the Sultan ; and in 1878 
Rumania was declared independent by the Treaty of Berlin. 
At the same time the boundaries of the country were readjusted. 
Dobrudja, at the mouth of the Danube, had been ceded to Russia 
by the Porte, and this district Russia made over to Rumania, 
exacting as compensation a portion of Bessarabia which Molda- 
via had acquired in 1856 by the Treaty of Paris. This exchange 
of territory ought to have been to the advantage of Rumania ; 
for Prince Charles's troops had given Russia material assistance 
in her struggle with Turkey in 1877 -1878, and their gallantry 
at the siege of Plevna had proved that the Rumanian Vlachs 
could be first-rate soldiers. But it was Russia rather than Ru- 
mania that profited by this new territorial arrangement, and 
the Tsar was thought to have been ungenerous toward his recent 
ally.^ 

1 A study of the boundaries of Rumania before and after 1878 might lead 
one to suppose that Dobrudja was an excellent exchange for the portion of 
territory that was given up to Russia ; for Dobrudja is much the larger of 
the two, and It greatly increases Rumania's coast-line on the Black Sea. 
But it is an arid and sparsely settled region (consult Vivien de Saint-Mar- 
tin's " Nouveau Dictionnaire de Geographic Universelle," Tome II, article 



170 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

The independence of Rumania which was granted at Berlin 
was in due time formally acknowledged by the powers. It was 
recognized by England, France, and Germany in 1880 ; and in 
the following year Prince Charles and his wife were crowned 
King and Queen of Rumania. Thus the two ancient Principali- 
ties had finally grown into a nation. 

Rumania has an area of 48,307 square miles, and a popula- 
tion of about 6,000,000. The national debt is a little less than 
$250,000,000. The executive power of the country is vested 
in the King, aided by a Prime Minister and a Cabinet of eight. 
There are two legislative Houses: the Senate, composed of 
120 members who are elected for eight years ; and the Chamber, 
composed of 183 members who are elected for four years. The 
right of suffrage belongs to all male citizens who are of age 
and who pay taxes to the State ; but the system of voting is 
somewhat complicated. For choosing senators the electors are 
divided into two colleges according to property or educational 
qualifications ; for choosing members of the Chamber they are 
divided into three colleges. It is to be noted that the King 
has the power to veto all legislation. The chief occupation of 
the Rumanian people is agriculture, large quantities of the 
cereals being sent abroad every year. The export and import 
trade of the country is slowly but steadily growing. 

IV. Bulgaria 

The Bulgarians suffered like the other races that were sub- 
ject to the Porte, but they were slow in raising the standard 
of insurrection. During the first three quarters of the century 
they engaged in no general revolt, sporadic encounters between 
maddened peasants and plundering Turks being their only mani- 
festations of disaffection. But gradually they were roused to 
desperation by the cruel nature of the Turkish policy toward . 

" Dobroudja ") ; and its value may be judged from the fact that Prince Charles 
strongly objected to the arrangement by which the Tsar forced it upon him. 
Alexander is said to have been subsequently ashamed of his treatment of 
Rumania at this time, but he considered it a religious duty to get back all 
that he had been obliged to surrender by the Treaty of Paris (Fortnighthj 
Revieio, 50: 802). The attitude of Prince Charles and the Rumanians toward 
the question is shown in Whitman's " Reminiscences of the King of Rumania," 
pp. 301-32n. 



PART II THE BALKAN STATES 171 

them. For after the Crimean War the Turkish Government 
oppressed them in every possible way, its aim being to drive 
them out of their territory and replace them with Tartars and 
Circassians. In this way the Porte hoped to form the Balkan 
provinces into a barrier against the Kussians, who might be 
tempted to cross the Danube by the supplications of a friendly 
power. But in this policy the Turks quite overreached them- 
selves. The Circassians plundered the Bulgarians past endur- 
ance, and in 1875 the infuriated peoj^le rose in rebellion. And 
thus was started that series of events which resulted in the 
complete humiliation of Turkey. The Bulgarian revolt was 
suppressed with such awful cruelty that the Turk was exe- 
crated all over the civilized world. Servia and Montenegro 
now took up arms against the Porte, and when their discom- 
fiture seemed imminent, Russia took the field in behalf of the 
Sultan's long-suffering Christian subjects (p. 188). Thus by his 
very rapacity and cruelty the. Turk, instead of strengthening 
himself, brought down merited vengeance upon his head. By 
the Berlin Congress he was deprived of that very province 
which he had treated with such shameless barbarity. Bulgaria 
was by that body made an autonomous principality, tributary 
to the Sultan ; the Balkans were established as its southern 
boundary ; its ruler was to be approved by the Sultan, but to 
be chosen by the Bulgarian people. 

Thus Bulgaria was at last delivered from a tyrannous rule 
which had lasted for nearly five centuries, the kingdom of 
Bulgaria having been conquered by Bajazet and annexed to 
the Ottoman Empire in 1396. Though its freedom was not 
yet complete, it was now free enough to establish constitutional 
government, and this it did by adopting a Constitution early 
in 1879. By this Constitution a single legislative Chamber, 
called the National Assembly of Bulgaria, was established, 
and one of the first duties of this newly constituted body was 
the election of a ruler. By a unanimous vote it chose Prince 
Alexander of Battenburg, who was approved by the Porte and 
the powers, and who assumed the duties of government on 
June 29, 1879. He was an able man and a high-minded one, 
but from the first he found the task of ruling an alien people 
difiicult and thorny. Bulgaria is, like Servia, the seat of 
Russian intrigue. Lying between Russia and Constantinople, 



172 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

and inhabited by a people who, though of Finnish origin, have 
become Slavic in language and characteristics, it inevitably 
excites- the interest and cupidity of the great neighboring 
Slavic Empire. The Tsar's agents are always at its capital, 
Sofia, and so strong is their influence that the government is 
practically under Russian control. Moreover, republican prin- 
ciples have found converts among the sturdy Bulgarian people, 
and have created a sentiment in favor of thoroughly demo- 
cratic institutions. And while this sentiment is not wide- 
spread, it sometimes makes itself heard. 

Naturally, therefore, Prince Alexander soon found that he 
must face decided opposition. He did not well understand 
the temper of the Bulgarian people and at first he aroused their 
antagonism by disregarding the wishes of his ministers and 
attempting to rule as an autocrat. Soon after the beginning 
of his reign he had difficulties with his Cabinet which led to 
the dissolution of the Assembly in December, 1879; and in 
the elections that followed prominent Liberals spoke so con- 
temptuously of Prince Alexander in their public addresses 
that he deemed it necessary to arrest them. But seeing the 
folly of this course, he soon abandoned his dictatorial methods 
of governing and established an intimate relationship with 
Stephen Stambuloff, the leader of the Liberal party. This 
remarkable man was already beginning to attract the attention 
of Europe, though he was now only twenty-five years of age. 
Possessing an iron tenacity of purpose, great foresight, and a 
lofty devotion to unselfish ends, he was for many years the 
centre of resistance to foreign intrigue and aggression. Alex- 
ander could not have had a Aviser and better counsellor, and he 
learned to profit by Stambuloff's decision and shrewdness, and 
not to be offended by his masterful personality. Aided by 
this sound adviser and by his oAvn good judgment, Alexander 
was for a time successful in overcoming opposition and winning 
the respect of the Bulgarian people. In 1885 he did much to 
strengthen his power by annexing Eastern Rumelia to his 
principality. This tract south of the Balkans belonged to 
Bulgaria, but in 1878 the Berlin Congress made it into a 
separate province and placed it under the direct military and 
political authority of the Sultan. Its people, however, would 
not submit to this despotic arrangement, which had been due 



PART II THE BALKAN STATES . 173 

to Lord Beaconsfield's sympathy for the Turk. On the night 
of September 17, 1885, they overthrew the Sultan's government 
and immediately proclaimed the union of their province with 
Bulgaria. Alexander was quick to see his opportunity. Ac- 
cepting the results of the revolution, he assumed the govern- 
ment of the province, and in April of the following year he 
was confirmed in it by a firman of the Sultan. 

The energy and promptness with which Alexander acted in 
this matter made him popular with the Bulgarian people, and 
his popularity was straightway increased by a disj)lay of mili- 
tary genius. For the Servians, made angry and jealous by 
the annexation of Eastern Rumelia and the increase of power 
whicli it involved, assumed a very arrogant and offensive tone 
toward Bulgaria and forced it into war. As the Servians had 
the larger and better drilled army, they expected to be easily 
victorious. But to their own surprise and that of all Europe 
also, they found themselves entirely overmatched. Through 
the courage and strategy of Prince Alexander the Bulgarian 
army completely routed its opponents, and the Servian King 
was soon forced to sign a treaty of peace. Had it not been for 
the intervention of Austria, the Bulgarians would have carried 
the war into their enemy's country and subjected them to still 
greater humiliation. 

Thus Alexander's prospects seemed encouraging, and but for 
the continuous interference of Russia he would probably have 
had a successful and prosperous reign. But in 1886 his army 
revolted at the instigation of Russian agents, and the Prince 
himself was kidnapped by a band of conspirators and carried 
into Russian territory after he had just signed his abdication. 
Through the prompt and vigorous action of Stambulolf the 
conspiracy was crushed, and Alexander, on returning into 
Bulgaria, was greeted with enthusiasm by the army and the 
people. The danger that had been so threatening seemed to 
have passed by, and Stambuloff confidently expected that the 
Prince would now be master of the situacion. But just at 
this critical moment Alexander committed a serious blunder. 
Though he knew that the Emperor of Russia, Alexander III., 
was unfriendly to him, he was induced to send to that austere 
monarch a message expressing his own good-will and desire 
to please, and inviting a friendly reply. But the Emperor's 



174 . SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

answer was so cold and formal as to convey a severe rebuke. 
Still the case was by no means hopeless. Stambuloff, much as 
he regretted Alexander's mistake, encouraged him to believe 
that he could face down all opposition if he showed a bold 
front and acted with unflinching determination. But the 
prince was not of heroic mould. Seeing that his path would 
be beset with difficulties, he lost heart and courage, and aban- 
doned the struggle against intrigue and unprincipled opposi- 
tion. On the 7th of September he again abdicated, and 
immediately left the country, never to return. Stambuloff 
sorrowfully escorted him out of the capital, where for seven 
years he had sat upon an uneasy throne. His death occurred 
on November 17, 1893. 

He was succeeded by a ruler of less ability and weaker 
character, Ferdinand, Duke of Saxony, who was elected Prince 
of Bulgaria on July 7, 1887. Though he assumed the functions 
of government without delay, it was nearly ten years before 
his election was confirmed by the powers. But finally, in 
1896, his title was formally recognized through the mediation 
of the Sultan. That this delay was prejudicial to him can 
hardly be asserted, but he has encountered the same obstacles 
that proved fatal to the success of Prince Alexander. The 
country is divided into the anti-Eussian and pro-Russian 
parties, and owing to their ceaseless and bitter warfare, it 
knows little political quiet. For some years Stambuloff con- 
tinued to lead the anti-Russian party, and showed such dis- 
tinguished ability that he was recognized as one of the great 
men of his time. The office of Prime Minister, to which he 
was appointed by Prince Alexander, he continued to hold 
under Prince Ferdinand until his vigorous policy raised up 
formidable enemies and wrought his downfall. It was his 
steadfast aim to create a national spirit among the people 
and to remove dissensions, and in the prosecution of these ends 
he crushed treasonable conspiracies and thrust his opponents 
aside with a heavy hand. But his arbitrary methods caused 
the feeling against him to grow intense and bitter, and Fer- 
dinand, who disliked his uncompromising and overbearing 
temper, joined the ranks of his enemies and treated him with 
harshness and indecency. In 1894 he was compelled to resign, 
and in the following year he was the victim of a cruel and 



PART II THE BALKAN STATES 175 

dastardly assault upon his life. Even at his funeral his 
enemies did not refrain from indecent manifestations of 
hatred. 

In spite of the taking off of this leader of the anti-Russian 
party the Tsar continued to be unfriendly to Prince Ferdinand, 
whom he pronounced a " usurper." But in time the concilia^ 
tory attitude of the prince overcame this opposition, and when 
Prince Boris, heir to the throne of Bulgaria, was baptized into 
the Greek Church, the Tsar, through a representative, acted 
as sponsor at the ceremony. It was not long after this that 
the powers recognized Ferdinand as Prince of Bulgaria, as 
already stated. 

Notwithstanding these disturbing political conditions Bul- 
garia has made commendable progress since it was relieved 
from Turkish misrule. Its schools have received the heartiest 
commendation from foreign visitors ; ^ its imports and exports 
have increased ; the resources of the country have been explored 
and developed. 

Bulgaria, including Eastern Eumelia, which is now known as 
Southern Bulgaria, contains a little more than thirty-eight thou- 
sand square miles and has a population of about three and a 
half millions. The Prince in his capacity of chief executive is 
assisted by a Council of Ministers. The legislative power is 
vested in the single Chamber which was established by the 
Constitution of 1879. The members are elected by universal 
manhood suffrage and sit for five years ; but the Prince can 
dissolve the Assembly at his pleasure. The delegates to the 
National Assembly are chosen in the proportion of one to every 
twenty thousand ; but there is a Great Assembly, whose dele- 
gates are elected in the proportion of one to every ten thou- 
sand, and to which constitutional questions must be referred. 
The Orthodox Greek Church is recognized as the State religion, 
but many Mohammedans are found among the population. 

Thus, of the five races enumerated in the early portion of 
the chapter, — the Greeks, the Albanians, the Vlachs, the Serbs, 
and the Bulgarians, — all have become free excepting one. Not 
indeed that all the members of these races have been equally 
fortunate. Undoubtedly there are Greeks, Vlachs, Serbs, and 
Bulgarians still under Turkish rule, for these races have been 
1 Samuelson's "Bulgaria." 



176 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

SO mixed and scattered that no one of them could hope to win 
liberty for all belonging to it imtil the Turk should be driven 
out of Europe. But European Turkey has been so curtailed in 
the course of the century, that most of the people who used to 
be plundered and tortured by the Sultan's agents are no longer 
subjects of the Porte. 

One brave race, however, has not yet succeeded in freeing 
itself from the Ottoman tyranny. The Albanians still own 
the Sultan as their master, and still dread the visitation of 
the Turkish tax-collector. But it has been the force of cir- 
cumstances rather than lack of energy and courage that has 
kept them from gaining their freedom. When the Greeks 
rose in 1821 the Albanians offered to help them, but their 
advances were coldly received. Thus a miserable race jeal- 
ousy prevented two gallant peoples from uniting against their 
common enemy, and made the struggle of the Greeks more 
arduous than it needed to have been, and the lot of the Al- 
banians less fortunate than that of neighboring races. For, 
stung by the unfriendliness of the Greeks, they have made 
no alliances with surrounding peoples, and they have not been 
strong enough to cope with Turkey alone. They have indeed 
been brave enough to attempt this impossible task. They re- 
belled in 1843 and again in 1880, but in each case they were 
soon suppressed. Yet they have undoubtedly profited by the 
freedom which Greece, Servia, and Bulgaria have won. The 
Turk has learned that it cannot torture its European subjects 
without calling down the vengeance of the powers. So it in- 
flicts its worst atrocities upon the unhappy Armenians, and lets 
the races nearer home go comparatively unmolested. But at 
best the condition of a people under Turkish rule is not to be 
envied. It is to be hoped that the Albanians will ultimately 
pass under a more enlightened government. At the same 
time, it is impossible to foresee what lot will befall them 
when the " Sick Man " dies. It does not seem probable 
that they will be allowed to form a separate state and 
add one more to the petty kingdoms south of the Danube ; 
yet they are too proud to merge their destiny in that of 
any neighboring race. 

One more country of Southeastern Europe remains to be 
considered, but it cannot be classed with those that have 



PART n THE BALKAN STATES 177 

wrested their freedom from the Turk, for that country has 
never been completely conquered by the Ottoman power. It 
is the little kingdom of Montenegro. 

Vo Montenegro 

Consisting largely of rugged mountains, this state, insignifi- 
cant in size and numbers, has successfully defied the whole 
strength of Turkey. Its present inhabitants are the descend- 
ants of a body of Servians who took refuge in this mountain- 
ous tract after their own country had been conquered by the 
Turks in 1389. From that time on they maintained a desper- 
ate struggle with their implacable foe. Again and again the 
Turks overran their country, burned their capital, and slew 
and captured a large number of their people. But there 
always remained a remnant to carry on the war and defy the 
Ottoman invader. And finally, in 1878, that independence 
which they had never surrendered was formally acknowledged 
by the Sultan. At the same time the Congress of Berlin, 
recognizing and rewarding their splendid heroism, increased 
their scanty domain with grants of adjoining territory. Mon- 
tenegro now comprises about thirty-five hundred square miles, 
and has a population of something less than a quarter of a 
million. 

But in this brave little kingdom there has been but a very 
feeble growth in the direction of constitutional government. 
Its people, sturdy and independent as they are, do not feel 
the need of a written document to protect their rights. The 
patriarchal spirit is still strong in the country. There exists 
an innate respect for authority, together with a rude and 
primitive feeling of equality which puts prince and peasant 
very much on the same level. The Montenegrins obey their 
ruler because they trust him; but there is no servility in their 
submission. Heroes themselves, they render homage to a 
hero. A weak and tame-spirited prince could hardly control 
their fierce and rugged temper. Accordingly, their land has 
not been a scene of popular uprisings and civil discord. Al- 
most annihilated in 1516 and deserted by their prince, the 
Montenegrins put themselves under the lead of their bishop ; 
and for nearly two hundred years their rulers were elected by 



178 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

themselves, and vested with both spiritual and temporal 
sovereignty. In 1697 they partially abandoned this right of 
election, as Petrovitch Nyegush was appointed Vladika, or 
prince-bishop, with the right of choosing his own successor, 
subject to the national approval. The succession was naturally 
kept among his own descendants, and the reigning Prince of 
Montenegro claims Petrovitch Nyegush as his ancestor. Por 
a century and a half this simple and theocratic form of gov- 
ernment was kept without change ; but in 1851 the spiritual 
side of the sovereignty was abandoned upon the death of 
Peter Petrovitch, who was thus the last Vladika of Monte- 
negro. And shortly afterward the power of the prince, which 
had been absolute, was nominally limited and curtailed. By 
the Constitution, which was granted in 1852 and dianged in 
1879, the reigning Prince has executive authority, while the 
legislative power is vested in a State Council of eight mem- 
bers, half of whom are appointed by the Prince, and half of 
whom are elected by the people. It is interesting to note that 
in this military state, which owes its very existence to cen- 
turies of warfare, and where every man carries his pistol and 
yataghan in his girdle, citizenship is coextensive with arms- 
bearing. Only those who can fight or who have fought for 
their country are entitled to vote. 

But although Montenegro is thus by its Constitution a 
limited monarchy, it is still practically an absolute one. 
Everything depends on the will of the Prince. The Monte- 
negrins are still a half-barbaric people with the vices and 
virtues that belonged to a semi-civilized state. They are in- 
dustrious, brave, and temperate ; but they are still too rough 
and primitive to develop political institutions or a rich and 
broad intellectual activity. Education is free and compulsory, 
but elementary ; and the occupations of the people are chiefly 
agricultural and pastoral. 

This study of Southeastern Europe would hardly seem com- 
plete without some mention of the Turks themselves ; for all 
the countries that have been considered, with the possible 
exception of Montenegro, have been a part of European 
Turkey. So powerful and dominant has been the Ottoman 
race. And yet it is only by courtesy that the Turks can be 



PART II THE BALKAN STATES 179 

considered in a study of constitutional growth and political 
development. They have no politics ; they do not know the 
meaning of constitutional government. The Sultan is an 
autocrat, and if he is removed it is not by the will of the 
people but by the intrigues of a corrupt and shameless court. 
True, the European tendency toward constitutionalism has 
found expression. But the expression has been nothing but 
a mockery and a sham. The Sultan Abdul Med j id proclaimed 
a Constitution in 1856, and his successors have followed his 
example. But these documents are absolutely meaningless. 
In spite of them the Sultans go on doing exactly as they 
please, without the smallest regard for the feelings of their 
subjects. The Turks have no rights that the Sultan does not 
choose to give them. There is, however, some machinery of 
government The Sultan cannot manage the affairs of his 
empire without organized assistance, and he has to help him 
two high dignitaries, the Grand Minister, whose functions are 
very much like those of a prime minister and who has a cabi- 
net of ministers under him, and the Sheik-ul-Islam, who is 
the head of the Church. Then there is a body made up of 
eminent judges, theologians, and scholars which is termed the 
Ulema; and of considerable importance are the Mufti, who 
interpret the Koran. For the Koran is almost the only check 
upon the Sultan's will. His decisions must be in accord with its 
sacred teachings as expounded by the Mufti ; and they must 
not contradict the laws of the ^' Multeka," which embodies the 
opinions of Mohammed himself and his immediate successors. 
The present Sultan of Turkey is Abdul Hamid II., a cruel and 
vicious ruler, who stands directly in the way of his country's 
progress. His vices are recognized by the more liberal Turks 
themselves, and there is a party of young men at Constantinople 
who hold that their country's evils are all due to the iniquities 
of its sovereign.^ They believe that under a wise and high- 
minded monarch, or under republican institutions, Turkey 
would no longer be the plague-spot of modern civilization. Ac- 
cordingly, they hope to see their country regenerated when the 
present reign comes to an end. That their hoj^es are unfounded 
it would be harsh to say. But the careful student of history 
has no faith whatever in the " unspeakable Turk." 
1 The Fortnightly Review, 67 : 639. 



CHAPTER III 

RUSSIA 

The movement for constitutional government has been well- 
nigh universal throughout Europe during the nineteenth cen- 
tury, but two nations have steadily resisted its advance. Neither 
Russia nor Turkey has adopted representative institutions ; in 
neither of these countries do the people have any control over 
national affairs. And yet neither of them could be ignored in 
a study of political and constitutional growth in the nineteenth 
century, for each of them well illustrates the defects and the 
dangers of autocratic rule. Moreover, the cause of represen- 
tative government has not lacked champions in Russia. Loud 
and fierce have been the protests against absolutism, and more 
than one Tsar has thought seriously of convening a national 
assembly. This decided step has not indeed been taken, 
Russia is still governed without a Constitution, and probably 
will be for many years to come. But this absolute monarchy 
has been profoundly aifected by the political progress of other 
European nations. If the Russian Tsars have ruled as auto- 
crats, they have not been without liberal instincts ; and if the 
Russian people have not obtained self-government, they have 
reaped the benefit of more than one radical reform. Accord- 
ingly, the political history of Russia since the French Revolu- 
tion affords an interesting study. 

But that stormy period did not at once bear fruit in the Mus- 
covite dominions. Catherine II. sat upon the throne of Russia 
in 1789, and much as she affected to admire Rousseau and Vol- 
taire, she yet detested the principles which were at the root of 
their teachings. The Revolution in France, she viewed with 
horror, and the last years of her reign were reactionary rather 
than progressive. Her son Paul, who succeeded her in 1796, 
was too weak a character to change the policy of government. 

180 



PART n RUSSIA 181 

But his reign was brief. He was murdered in 1801, and his 
son, Alexander I., who now came to the throne at the age of 
twenty-three, was in sympathy with liberal ideas. He came 
too at a time when Russia was ready to begin a larger career 
and to become more profoundly influenced by European civili- 
zation. Ever since the time of Peter the Great she had been 
struggling to win an extensive sea-coast, and under Catherine II. 
this end had been attained. Russia had now " wholly cast 
aside her character as a mere inland power intermediate be- 
tween Europe and Asia. She had a Baltic and an Euxine sea- 
board." ^ 

But with this new and important position among the Euro- 
pean nations came new responsibilities, new opportunities, and 
new ideals of power and greatness. Russia was drawn into 
the struggle with Napoleon, and played no inconsiderable part 
in the events that led up to Waterloo. For Alexander I. was 
a conspicuous figure during the Napoleonic wars. His friend- 
ship protected Napoleon, even as his hostility helped to turn 
the scale against him. And his appearance at Paris in 1814 
and 1815 among the allied sovereigns of Europe had no little 
significance. It showed that Russia was now to hold vital 
and intimate relations with the great European powers. It 
pointed to the Tsar as one of the potent and influential mon- 
archs of Europe. 

But unfortunately, in taking this position, Alexander failed 
to appi-ehend its legitimate requirements. It should have con- 
firmed him in liberal opinions ; but in the end it made him a 
reactionary. Naturally a friend of progress, he had cherished 
vast and beneficent schemes of reform through the earlier years 
of his reign, and had taken some steps toward bringing them 
to a fulfilment. Russians were allowed to travel freely, and 
foreigners were permitted to enter Russia; European books 
and papers were admitted into the country ; contracts of free- 
dom between serfs and their owners were made legal, and even 
the emancipation of the serfs was talked of ; priests, deacons, 
gentlemen, and citizens belonging to the guilds were declared 
exempt from corporal punishment; and in 1813 there was 
organized and formally instituted a Council of Empire which 
had considerable powers, some of them legislative. But after 

1 Freeman's " Historical Geography of Europe," p. 534. 



182 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

making so promising a beginning, Alexander grew tired of 
reform. The sovereigns of Europe were alarmed by the ideas 
which had led to the excesses of the French Revolution, and 
he learned to share their feelings. So he joined the Holy 
Alliance in 1815, dismissed his Liberal minister, Speranski, 
and, from being a wise and progressive ruler, became sus- 
picious, conservative, and despotic. To the end of his reign 
he encouraged art, industry, and commerce, and showed an 
interest in education ; but the cause of popular government he 
had learned to regard with mistrust and aversion, and the 
splendid promise of his earlier years was not fulfilled. He 
was succeeded in 1825 by his brother Nicholas, who, on com- 
ing to the throne, was obliged to direct his energies toward 
putting down a formidable revolt among the soldiers. The 
extreme severity with which he punished the leaders in the 
revolt was perhaps justifiable; yet from the beginning to the 
end of his reign he showed himself a typical Romanoff Tsar, 
headstrong, conservative, iron-willed, and despotic. Liberal 
measures found in him a most uncompromising opponent, 
though certain reforms which did not directly benefit the 
masses obtained his sanction. At his direction the laws were 
codified and the action of the courts was made more rapid ; 
tribunals of trade were established, and increased political and 
social privileges were given to merchants; work upon the 
canal that was to join the Don and the Volga was continued ; 
a law school, a technological school, and two pedagogical insti- 
tutes were founded. 

But foreign aifairs interested Nicholas more than domestic 
questions. He made war upon Persia and despoiled her of 
several districts ; and despot though he was, he took up the 
cause of Greece and helped to free her from Turkey, for it was 
part of his policy to humiliate the latter power, and, in case 
of its overthrow, to seize its domains. In 1831 he suppressed 
an insurrection of the Poles and made Poland a Russian prov- 
ince ; while in 1847 was begun the great eastward march of 
Russia into Central Asia which has resulted in the acquisition 
of immense tracts, and which has not yet been brought to an 
end. Though Nicholas had played the part of liberator by 
protecting Greece in 1828, he had done so to cripple Turkey ; 
to subvert liberty was more natural and agreeable to him, and 



PART II RUSSIA 183 

this he did in 1849 by helping Austria quell the threatening 
Magyar insurrection (p. 142). By this act he secured the good- 
will of Francis Joseph, and by a clever exercise of diplomacy 
— an art in which he was somewhat proficient — he also gained 
the friendship of Prussia. Thus strengthened, he determined 
to renew hostilities with his old enemy, the Turk, and exact 
from him further concessions. In 1829 he had forced the Sul- 
tan to grant the free right of navigation in the Black Sea, the 
Dardanelles, and the Danube ; now he hoped to drive him from 
power and possibly to gain possession of Constantinople. 

But in this ambition Nicholas was destined to be wholly 
thwarted. Two nations, whose hostility he had not expected 
to arouse, united with the Turk against him. France declared 
war upon Russia to win military glory (p. 41) ; England, in 
order to maintain the integrity of the Turkish Empire. With 
the latter power Nicholas had been on very friendly terms, but 
to assail Turkey was to touch the very quick of British diplo- 
macy. So Nicholas found that he had raised up a storm of 
indignation against himself in this supposedly friendly nation. 
Nor was he at this time able to conciliate feeling and disarm 
antagonism by wise action. Though not yet fifty years old, 
he was suffering from that deep, brooding melancholy which 
is so often the unhappy inheritance of the Romanoffs. So 
impaired was his mind that in 1853 an English physician pre- 
dicted that he had not more than two years to live — a predic- 
tion that was to receive a striking fulfilment.^ Hence, in the 
closing portion of his life it was impossible to have satisfactory 
intercourse with him. He was the creature of moods and whims, 
and his own courtiers as well as foreign diplomats were dis- 
turbed by his perversity and unreasonableness.^ So nothing 
could keep him from the disastrous Crimean War, though 
fortunately he was saved from witnessing its humiliating con- 
clusion. His death occurred on March 2, 1855, from brain con- 
gestion; not, as has frequently been asserted, from mortified 
pride and ambition. 

1 Count Vitzthum's " St. Petersburg and London," I. 31. 

2 These tendencies showed themselves early in his reign. At the time of 
the Greek Revolution, Canning wrote of him: "To say the truth, Nicholas 
puzzles me exceedingly, and seems to have puzzled the Duke of Wellington 
and perhaps himself." " Some Official Correspondence of George Canning," 
II. 27. 



184 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

His son Alexander II., who succeeded him, was a liberal and 
progressive ruler. With his uncle's breadth of mind he 
united a tenacity of purpose and a practical bent which Alex- 
ander I. had not possessed. But, coming to the throne at a 
period of national humiliation, he could not give immediate 
attention to measures of reform. Sebastopol was captured ; 
his armies in the Crimea were thoroughly vanquished by the 
allied forces. He was, therefore, obliged to make peace with 
England, France, and Turkey upon such terms as they dic- 
tated ; and by the Treaty of Paris, arranged in 1856, he sur- 
rendered a part of Bessarabia and the right to keep vessels of 
war on the Black Sea. Thus Russia, instead of profiting by 
Nicholas's aggressive attitude toward Turkey, had only reaped 
sorrow and loss of power. But, the war once ended, Alexander 
soon showed himself a wise and humane executive. In 1858 he 
partially freed the serfs on the imperial domaius ; and on March 
3, 1861, just as the American Civil War, which was to liberate 
four million negroes, was looming up before the world, he 
issued a decree for the total emancipation of the serfs through- 
out his dominions. Thus twenty-three million people were by 
this single act released from bondage. Some years were indeed 
allowed for the full execution of the decree, and the immediate 
effects of the emancipation were not altogether good. It took 
the peasants some time to learn how to use their freedom. But 
forty years have shown that this humane action of Alexander 
must be classed among the great and beneficent reforms of the 
century.^ In other directions, also, Alexander showed him- 
self a friend of civilization and progress. He caused commer- 
cial treaties to be made with Great Britain and China; he 
promoted the cause of education ; he helped on the construc- 
tion of railroads ; and to the Jews, who were not at that time 
the object of blind and fanatical hatred, he granted increased 
privileges. But Alexander was not allowed to play the role of 
reformer without interruption. In 1861 occurred an uprising 
in Poland, which culmiftated in a widespread insurrection in 
1863. The agitation had, to some extent, been occasioned by 

1 In Wallace's "Russia," Chs. XXXI. and XXXII., there is a thorough 
discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of emancipation. A still 
fuller one is to be found in Leroy-Beaulieu's "The Empire of the Tsars 
and the Russians," Vol. I. Book VII. 



PART II RUSSIA. 185 

the success of the national movement in Italy in 1859 ; but the 
Poles had no foreign friend like Napoleon to fight their battles 
for them, and they could make no stand against the full strength 
of the Russian Empire. The insurrection was completely 
crushed in the course of the year 1864, and Poland was 
entirely denationalized. It lost its name and its separate 
government, and became simply a province of the Empire. 
But amnesty was granted to all political offenders in 1867, — 
one of many proofs that Alexander, though sometimes stern, 
was never cruel. ^ 

But at the very period of this uprising Russia found herself 
face to face with a far more formidable foe than Poland. It 
was at this time that Nihilism began its strange and stormy 
career. In the political as in the material world action and 
reaction are equal. France found this to be so in 1789 ; Russia 
began to find it so three quarters of a century later. In each 
nation a long era of despotism produced a wild and brutal 
revolt against established order ; in each nation a destructive 
rationalism was the result of governing men with unreason. 
But in France the protest of reason ended in a wild carnival of 
folly ; in Russia, though it shook the foundations of govern- 
ment, it was powerless to overthrow them. 

The first signs of the coming trouble were apparent in the 
decade after the emancipation of the serfs. For when men 
were made masters of their persons, it was argued that they 
ought also to be masters of their own intelligence. The Nihil- 
istic movement, therefore, was, in its early stages, intellectual 
rather than political. Its aim was to emancipate the masses 
from ignorance and superstition ; its leaders were the apostles 
of rationalism, who broke free from tradition, hated religion, 
and believed that education and free thought would regenerate 
the world. Embracing these ideals with passionate enthusiasm, 
they strove to propagate them through the whole Russian 
Empire. Whatever may be said of their cause, their zeal for 
it was unbounded. They believed themselves to be priests 
of a new dispensation, and this dispensation they preached in 
season and out of season with the ardor of a religious brother- 

1 Prince Krapotkin gives testimony to the contrary, but his feelings 
toward Alexander seem vindictive. See his recently published Autobiog- 
raphy, passim. 



\ 
\ 



186 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

hood. And for a time they confined themselves to peaceable 
methods. They did not regard their movement as revolution- 
ary, and they did not seek to further it by violence. 

But gradually their attitude underwent a total change. If 
their efforts were not revolutionary, the Government at any 
rate considered them so, and it strove to thwart them by every 
possible means. The Nihilists themselves were imprisoned; 
their documents were seized; their property was confiscated. 
But these summary measures only increased their devotion to 
their creed. After a few years they grew fierce, fanatical, and 
desperate. They learned to regard the Government with bit- 
terest hatred, and their movement assumed a distinctly politi- 
cal character. It was socialistic, destructive of law and order, 
the enemy of peaceable progress and the friend of revolution. 
But still the Nihilist refrained from actual violence. During 
the early seventies he acted as if at bay, angry, outraged, and 
vindictive, and ready to go to martyrdom in defence of his 
beliefs. But he remained a propagandist and not an assassin. 

But in 1878 occurred a startling event which changed the 
character of Nihilism, and was the beginning of a long series 
of dreadful deeds. On the 24th of January in that year. Gen- 
eral Trepoff was shot by a woman named Vera Zassulic, for 
ordering a political prisoner to be flogged. Vera Zassulic was 
acquitted by a jury; none the less her action set the Nihilists 
on fire. Inspired by her example, they adopted violence as a 
means of furthering their cause. Unable to contend with the 
Government, they sought to terrorize it. Dynamite became 
their favorite weapon, and the Tsar the special object of their 
murderous efforts.^ To them he was the symbol of despotism, 
the head of the infamous system of government which they 
were seeking to destroy. Accordingly, they determined to 
offer him as a sacrifice vipon the altar of Nihilism. For the 
Empire, they argued, could not stand, if to be its ruler meant 
death. 

But in spite of the hostility of the Nihilists, the Tsar, for a 
time, persisted in his course as an enlightened and progressive 
sovereign. The Nihilistic movement did, indeed, excite his 

1 The hatred toward Alexander was intensified because he tried to set 
aside the verdict by which Vera Zassulic had been acquitted. Her arrest 
and imprisonment were ordered shortly after her trial. 



PART II RUSSIA 187 

indignant condemnation. He could not help viewing it with 
profound concern, for it seemed to him subversive of order 
and an enemy of progress. He therefore gave his sanction to 
those severe measures by which it was attempted to keep the 
Nihilists in check. To him, as the representative of ancient 
despotic usage, arrest upon suspicion, imprisonment without 
trial, maddening solitary confinement, and banishment to Siberia 
seemed the natural and proper means of dealing with promoters 
of rebellion. But that he punished vindictively there is scant 
evidence. Nor did he wholly abandon his plans of reform 
because of the signs of revolutionary disturbance within his 
Empire. On the contrary, he tried to accomplish the very 
things which the moderate and thoughtful Liberals desired. 
He relaxed the censorship of the press, shortened the term of 
military service, encouraged immigration and invention, and 
removed restrictions on travel. And he did much to improve 
the legal system of the Empire, which preceding sovereigns 
had labored to amend with very imperfect success. The laws 
of the land had become so numerous and contradictory that 
they rather hindered than helped the administration of justice, 
until Catherine II. attempted to collect them into a single 
code. This work, only partially accomplished in her reign, 
was continued by Alexander I. and completed under Nicho- 
las I. But further reforms were urgently needed when Alex- 
ander II. came to the throne, for some of the fundamental 
principles of sound jurisprudence were scarcely recognized. 
But under this enlightened monarch trial by jury was estab- 
lished ; the punishment of criminals was taken from the police 
and put in the hands of a judiciary; and flogging was pro- 
hibited except in prisons, in disciplinary regiments, and when 
authorized by peasant courts. But it must be admitted that 
in a country like Russia the value of such reforms depends 
upon the will of the Tsar. If he punishes officials who trans- 
gress the statutes, his edicts will be obeyed. But the arbitrary 
and domineering instinct is strong in a country where despotic 
government has been the rule for centuries; and those who 
exercise authority are not often called to account for cruel and 
tyrannical conduct, for the Tsar, however well meaning, can- 
not oversee all his minions, and correct their abuses. 

But the persistent agitation of the Nihilists made Alexander 



188 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

pause in the work of reform. The propagandists grew more 
and more dangerous and violent : the five great universities 
— at St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Dorpat, and Kazan — 
showed sympathy with liberal principles. So Alexander's 
views took a reactionary tinge, though he did not, like his 
uncle, Alexander I., wholly abandon liberal ideas. At the 
very time of his death he was maturing a plan for conven- 
ing a National Assembly which should have the right of delib- 
erating upon proposed measures, though not of voting upon 
them. But during the latter years of his reign Alexander 
undoubtedly looked with special interest upon the more exter- 
nal signs of power and progress in his dominions. And he 
had good reason to pride himself upon the gains that had been 
made. Nearly seven thousand miles of railroad had been 
constructed; the number of factories had been enormously 
increased; the export trade had risen from thirty million 
dollars to more than ten times that sum ; the right to keep 
war vessels on the Black Sea (p. 42) had been asserted in 
1870; and new and considerable tracts had been acquired in 
Central Asia. 

Nearer home, too, Kussia gained additional territory during 
Alexander's reign ; for Turkey, her ancient enemy, was obliged 
to cede portions of her soil as a result of the Russo-Turkish War 
in 1877-78. Into this war Alexander was drawn by a series 
of complications which arose from the attempt of the peoples 
south of the Danube to emancipate themselves from Turkish 
tyranny. Foremost among these peoples were the Servians, 
who made war upon Turkey in 1876 and put a powerful army 
in the field. But they were unable to cope with the Turkish 
Empire, sustained as it was by exorbitant taxes wrung from 
the subjects of the Sultan all over his dominions. In 1877 
their cause looked very dark, and the Tsar determined to pro- 
tect them from the horrors that follow a Turkish victory. He 
declared war upon the Porte on April 24, 1877, and after a 
bloody conflict of nearly a year's duration he thoroughly 
routed the armies of the Sultan both in Asia Minor and in 
European Turkey. Peace was signed at San Stephano on 
March 3, 1878 ; and on August 17 an army of eighty thousand 
Russians was reviewed almost in sight of Constantinople. 
That the Tsar was sorely tempted to seize this long-coveted 



FART II RUSSIA 189 

stronghold and keep it against all assaults there can be no 
doubt; but he had pledged himself not to invade Turkey's 
capital, and he was true to his word. Constantinople remained 
in the possession of the " Sick Man," the armies of Kussia 
withdrew across the Danube,^ and the Tsar satisfied himself 
with the awards of the Berlin Congress. By the decisions of 
that body the Porte made over to Russia Ardahan, Kars, and 
Batum in Asiatic Turkey, as well as a district lying at the 
mouth of the Danube (p. 169). But in spite of the numerous 
gains that were made under Alexander, the Nihilists regarded 
him as a tyrant ; and, after failing in four efforts against his 
life, they accomplished their end on the afternoon of Sunday, 
March 13, 1881. As he was returning from a parade a bomb 
wrecked the sleigh that bore some of his escort ; a second one 
mortally wounded the Tsar himself, who had courageously 
stopped his own sleigh in order to look after his retainers. 
His death removed one of the best and ablest sovereigns of the 
century. 

Alexander was succeeded by his son, Alexander III., who 
possessed the dominating traits of the Romanoffs. He was 
imperious, stern, and conscientious, though his conceptions of 
duty were narrow. In 1879 he had been rebuked by his father 
for advocating reforms ; but after the tragic end of Alexander 
II. he lost his sympathy with liberal movements. Abandon- 
ing all thought of granting his subjects a Constitution, he lived 
for two years in retirement and reigned as autocratically as 
his predecessors. He was a man of high courage, like all be- 
longing to his line, and it is hardly to be believed that he 
shunned publicity through personal fear. Probably he was 
anxious to preserve his dynasty from extinction rather than 
to secure his own personal safety. But whatever may have 
been his motives, he did not allow himself to be crowned till 
May 27, 1883, more than two years after his father's death. 

During the coronation season, with its festivities, pomp, and 
parades, the Tsar would have been an easy mark for the Nihil- 
ists ; but they made no attempt to take his life. In resorting 
to assassination they had overreached themselves and ruined 

1 An army of occupation remained nine months in the newly organized 
province of Eastern Rumelia to carry out the provisions of the Berlin Con- 
gress. 



190 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

their cause in the eyes of the civilized world. They therefore 
decided to abandon dynamite and to win converts by peace- 
able means. But though the terrorism was thus brought to 
an end, the Tsar adhered to his repressive policy. The Nihil- 
ists were hunted out, condemned, and imprisoned because of 
their opinions; a rigid censorship over all publications was 
maintained; and political offenders as well as criminals were 
exiled to Siberia, and there treated with great hardship. It 
soon became plain that the reign of Alexander III. would not 
be a period of reforms. 

But the reign was not a long one. On reaching middle life, 
Alexander showed the same signs of mental oppression to 
which other members of his line had been a prey, and he was 
also attacked by a wasting disease. The weight of empire 
was too heavy for him. On November 1, 1894, he died, at the 
age of forty-nine, and his son succeeded to the throne as 
Nicholas II. 

Born on May 18, 1868, Nicholas was but twenty-six when 
called to reign over the mightiest nation in the world, and for 
a time he maintained a discreet silence and did not enunciate 
his policy.^ Indeed, he showed himself an unusually self-con- 
tained and well-balanced character. Accordingly, the traditions 
of Russian statecraft were not immediately changed. The 
vast armies were maintained and improved; the navy was 
increased ; the steady flow of exiles into Siberia was not 
diminished; and Russian diplomacy was still marked by in- 
trigue, aggressiveness, and territorial greed. In China, as is else- 
where related (p. 324), Russia was particularly encroaching 
and caused irritation among the other great powers of Europe 
by the large concessions she obtained from the Chinese Gov- 
ernment. All the more important were these concessions 
because the Trans-Siberian railway was slowly and steadily 
approaching completion, and was destined to make Russia's 
power on the Pacific extremely formidable. This vast enter- 
prise was begun in 1891 and was carried forward in three great 
sections. The work was not hurried, but was done in an ex- 
ceedingly thorough manner, so that the railroad itself, the 
bridges over the rivers, and the official buildings along the 

1 Such brief announcements as be made were in favor of maintaining the 
traditional autocratic rule. 



PART II RUSSIA 191 

route compare favorably with similar constructions in the most 
advanced and highly civilized countries.^ 

As time passed, however, the Tsar began to show marked 
independence of mind and character. He was extremely judi- 
cious in dealing with other powers, as he avoided entangling 
alliances and at the same time gave no just cause for offence ; 
and in the administration of his own Empire he refused to be 
fettered by settled usage and custom. Although he preserved 
the efficiency of his vast armaments, he became impressed with 
the cruel and hideous nature of war, and he proposed to the 
great powers of the world a conference in the interests of 
peace. That the strong military nations would at once dimin- 
ish their armies and navies, he hardly expected ; but he sug- 
gested that all of them should cease to add to their armaments, 
and he declared himself ready to carry out this policy in Rus- 
sia. His motives were much impugned and his scheme was 
pronounced impracticable; but none the less the Conference 
met at The Hague on May 18, 1899, and was organized under 
the presidency of M. de Staal, the Russian ambassador to Eng- 
land. All the greater powers of Europe and nearly all the 
lesser ones were represented at the Conference ; and the United 
States and four Asiatic countries, China, Japan, Persia, and 
Siam, also sent delegates. For more than two months the 
Conference continued its sessions, and though it did not accom- 
plish exactly what the Tsar had planned, its deliberations were 
by no means fi'uitless. For before its members dispersed, 
they prepared eight conventions, which were agreed to by a 
majority of the powers represented. Some of these conven- 
tions were designed to mitigate the horrors and barbarities of 
warfare, the use of balloons to drop explosives from the sky, 
of asphyxiation shells and of expanding bullets being forbidden ; 
but the most important of them was the fourth, Avhich pro- 
vided for the establishment of a permanent court of arbitration 
with a bureau at The Hague, and made it the duty of all gov- 
ernments to encourage the submission of disputes to the court. 
Thus the Tsar Nicholas has made the whole civilized world 
his debtor; for the conventions of the Conference will work 

1 So travellers, familiar with the road, have stated; but recent reports 
throw doubt upon the correctness of their impressions. It is now said that 
much of the road must be built over again. 



192 SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA book i 

powerfully for peace and will help to rob war of some of its 
native savagery. 

Desiring to see progress in all parts of his dominions, 
Nicholas gave much thought and attention to the wretched 
condition of Siberia under the exile system. He saw that con- 
victs were not the best persons to develop a country and spread 
civilization; and he therefore determined to people Siberia 
with settlers who would make the most of its great fertility, 
and all its varied resources. When this plan is carried out, 
the custom of making the country the home of criminals will 
die of itself, just as Great Britain ceased to send convicts to 
Australia after the country was well settled with orderly and 
law-abiding inhabitants. 

As the Tsar gave many evidences of an enlightened and 
liberal mind, it was unfortunate that his treatment of the 
Finns was oppressive and unjust. The Grand Duchy of Fin- 
land was ceded by Sweden to Russia in 1809, and received a 
guarantee from Alexander I. that its religion and its funda- 
mental laws should not be changed. This guarantee was 
respected by the succeeding Tsars, each of whom solemnly 
swore to uphold the Constitution and the liberties of Finland. 
Under this Constitution, which dates from the year 1792, Fin- 
land had its own Parliament, consisting of four estates, the 
nobles, the clergy, the burghers, and the peasants ; its own 
money and system of custom-houses; and the right to manage 
its own affairs. But by a manifesto issued on February 15, 
1899, Nicholas set this Constitution aside. For in this mani- 
festo he reserved the right to decide what laws should be con- 
sidered to affect the whole Empire as well as Finland proper. 
Accordingly, as almost any law cou.ld be held to have some 
relation to the Empire in general, the Parliament of Finland 
was reduced to a mere provincial assembly, and deprived of 
the power to treat any other than local questions. 

Even before the manifesto of February 15 the Russian 
Government attempted to increase the burden of military 
service in Finland, and to that end it brought a Military Re- 
form Bill before the Finnish Diet. Such a bill could not 
have become a law against the wishes of the people of Finland 
while the Constitution was in force ; but after the Constitution 
was made invalid by the act of Nicholas, the people were 



PART II RUSSIA 193 

powerless to protect themselves against this bill or against 
any other tyrannical act of the Russian Government. But 
they continued loyal and still regarded the Tsar as their 
friend, believing that, in taking away their liberties, he had 
been led astray by evil counsellors. 

Russia has a European area of 2,095,504 square miles, and a 
total area of 8,644,100 square miles. The population of 
European Russia is about 100,000,000 ; and that of the whole 
empire about 130,000,000. Although the Tsar has absolute 
power, the administration of affairs is intrusted to four chief 
Councils. The Covmcil of State consists of a president and 
an unlimited number of members appointed by the Tsar. It 
is divided into three departments of Legislation, Civil and 
Church Administration, and Finance ; and its chief function is 
to examine into new laws that are proposed by the ministers, 
and to discuss the budget. The Ruling Senate has partly a 
deliberative and partly an executive character. It is divided 
into nine departments or sections, which meet in St. Peters- 
burg, and each of which is presided over by a lawyer. No 
law can be valid without its sanction ; it is also the High 
Court of Justice for the Empire. The Holy Synod is com- 
posed of metropolitans, archbishops, and bishops, and takes 
charge of religious affairs. The Committee of Ministers has 
to a large extent the duties and functions of a Cabinet. 

For purposes of local administration the country is divided 
into 107,493 communes, which are managed by the peasants 
themselves by means of the Mir, or communal assembly. A 
branch of the Greek Church is established in Russia as the 
State Church. It has its own synod and recognizes the Tsar 
as its supreme head. 

In educational matters Russia is one of the most backward 
countries in Europe, its percentage of illiteracy being very 
large. Scarcely any provision is made for primary education. 
There are good secondary schools for boys and for girls, but 
their number is utterly inadequate to the needs of the country ; 
and very much the same is to be said of the colleges and 
universities. 



Part III 



THE TEUTONIC NATIONS 



GEEMANY 
HOLLAND 
DENMAEK 



SWEDEN" AND 

NORWAY 
SWITZERLAND 



CHAPTER I 

GERMANY 

Before Europe became civilized, the Gallic and the Ger- 
manic peoples occupied adjoining tracts on either side of the 
Rhine. Gradually there came to each enlightenment, political 
growth, and national development. But the development was 
for each distinctive and peculiar. The Gallic Celts retained 
their own individual type of civilization and political life, and 
the Germans retained theirs. As time passed most of the 
Gallic peoples were welded into the French nation, while the 
Germanic peoples refused to give up their separate existence. 
They retained that independence which Tacitus mentions as 
one of their striking characteristics, and which neither the 
force of circumstances nor the strength of individual genius 
was ever able to overcome. The Holy Roman Empire was an 
empire only in name. Its head did not have a truly imperial 
power. Even so potent a monarch as Charles V. could not 
bring the stubborn German princes under an absolute sway. 
Eor even when he considered his authority to be complete and 
unresisted, that profound and subtle prince, Maurice of Saxony, 
undermined his power and drove him, a hasty fugitive, out of 
his own dominions. 

With the intellectual and moral growth of Europe the rug- 
gedness of the German temper showed itself more strongly 
than ever. The Reformation came. Luther made northern 
Germany break away from the Catholic Church, and the task 
of forming the German states into one undivided nation 
became increasingly difficult. To the separative influence 
of native independence was now added that of religious dis- 
sension. And in process of time came educational develop- 
ment and literary activity, which resulted in making the 
Germans a deep-thinking people. But with thought and 

197 



198 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

education came liberal ideas, dislike of autocratic rule, and 
emancipation from mediaeval superstition and from conven- 
tional opinions. Hence the Holy Roman Empire was seen 
to have but the semblance of authority, and it gradually lost 
its power. To it could never belong the glory of making a 
united Germany. 

Yet the hearts of the Germans longed increasingly for a 
great, free, and united fatherland. This longing was rendered 
so intense and active by the French Revolution that Leopold 
II., head of the Holy Roman Empire from 1790 to 1792, and 
Frederick William IV., King of Prussia, decided to crush such 
aspirations by helping Louis XVI. suppress his rebellious sub- 
jects. But in this effort they did not succeed. The French 
people triumphed over their King, and under Napoleon Bona- 
parte they overpowered Austria and Prussia. More than this, 
they made Germany more divided than ever. The chief cen- 
tral and southern states were formed into the Confederation of 
the Rhine, which espoused Napoleon's cause and furnished him 
men to win his victories. 

But when Napoleon finally abdicated, Germany lapsed back 
into its old condition. The Holy Roman Empire, which was 
brought to an end in 1804, was not indeed revived. But noth- 
ing was done by the Congress of Vienna to unify the various 
German states. Every petty princeling was reestablished in 
power, and was expected to rule as an autocrat. Constitutions 
were not approved of. The people were to have no rights 
whatever. Metternich, the Austrian statesman, exercised a 
paramount influence in the Congress, and made it take a 
resolute stand against popular government. 

Thus the prospects of Germany were deeply discouraging 
after the Congress had ended its labors. Both liberty and 
unity seemed far away. The demand for Constitutions was 
heard all over the land ; but how could they be wrested from 
reluctant and despotic rulers? Austria and Prussia, the two 
foremost states in Germany, were completely under Metter- 
nich's influence and were swayed by narrow-minded sovereigns. 
Democracy was odious to Francis I. of Austria; Frederick 
William III. of Prussia was not in sympathy with modern 
ideas. Of the remaining states no one was powerful enough 
to assume the leadership of Germany and to become the cham- 



GERMANY 199 



pion of the people's rights. For Austria and Prussia stood 
ready, at Metternich's bidding, to suppress such a movement 
by armed force. 

National unity seemed more difficult of attainment than 
political freedom. The Confederation of the Rhine was suc- 
ceeded in 1815 by the German Confederation, which lasted till 
1866, but this union of the states was never able to grow into 
a nation. Federations lack permanence. History shows that 
they are powerless to prevent disintegration. Germany was 
not ready to repeat America's experiment. Her separate states 
were not on an equality. They could not unite by voluntary 
agreement. The smaller ones looked for some powerful one 
to lead them. But the two most powerful ones, Austria and 
Prussia, could never lead while they remained walled in by 
absolutism. Each was, indeed, ambitious for leadership. Each 
attracted attention by its superior power and prestige. In the 
rivalry of the two is the key to German history for half a 
century. Yet how that rivalry would end, to what amazing 
developments it would lead, no one could foresee in the days 
of Metternich's supremacy. 

In spite of the obstacles to political progress, the movement 
for constitutional rights was not long delayed. Constitutions 
had indeed been provided for by the Articles of the German 
Confederation, and most of the German princes had promised 
liberal governments during the stormy times of the struggle 
with Napoleon. But the provisions of the Confederation 
proved to be a dead letter, for no one was responsible for 
carrying them out; and most of the princes failed to keep 
faith with them. But some there were who kept the promises 
they had made, and by them the cause of liberal government 
received its first onward movement. In North Germany only 
the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar was sufficiently progressive to 
fall in with the popular desires. But in South Germany Con- 
stitutions were granted in Bavaria, Wtirtemberg, Hesse-Darm- 
stadt ; and the rulers of these states led the way iu this, for 
they wished to weaken the nobility by freeing the people. 

These changes were all effected before the end of 1820. 
Meanwhile measures had been taken to prevent further innova- 
tions of a similar character. In March, 1819, Kotzebue, the 
author, was stabbed to death for undertaking to play the part 



200 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

of spy upon German liberty as the agent of the Eussian Em- 
peror. The deed, horrible as it was, had no special signifi- 
cance. It was the act of a fanatic, not the result of a conspiracy. 
Yet it was viewed with deep concern by the reactionary Ger- 
man rulers. It destroyed all lingering sympathy with consti- 
tutionalism in the mind of Frederick William III. And it 
helped to bring about the Carlsbad Congress. This body, to 
which Austria and Prussia and several other states sent repre- 
sentatives, assembled in August, 1819, and adopted resolutions 
subversive of free speech and liberal tendencies. 

Constitutionalism, therefore, made but little additional 
progress for a number of years. Metteriiich's influence was 
potent against it. But a movement was projected by Prussia 
in 1818 which helped on the cause of national unity. In that 
year the Zollverein, or Customs-union, was first planned. 
After a few years it was put into operation, and was gradually 
joined by nearly all the states of Germany excepting Austria. 
The benefits it brought were very great. The duties on im- 
ported goods were made uniform throughout Germany. Do- 
mestic manufactures were encouraged. Trade prospered ; and 
the receipts of the custom-house were very greatly increased. 
Moreover, by causing the German states to work together in 
securing a commercial prosperity, it helped the national idea, 
for the advantages of common arms, common laws, and com- 
mon government were made apparent. Nor did Prussia fail to 
reap special advantages from the union which she had founded. 
Its success redounded to her credit and gave her additional 
prominence among the states of Germany. 

With the outbreak of the revolution in France in 1830, the 
hopes of the Constitutionalists were revived, nor were they 
vainly excited. Insurrection broke out in Electoral Hesse and 
Saxony, and Constitutions were granted in those states in 

1831. A new Constitution was proclaimed in Brunswick in 

1832, and one was adopted in Hanover in 1833, partly as the 
result of popular agitation and disturbance. To these changes 
the Diet of the German Confederation was opposed; but it 
was powerless to prevent or annul them. But the cause of 
the reactionists was helped by a foolish demonstration in 
Bavaria in 1832, accompanied with fervid oratory and out- 
cries against autocratic government; and by an impotent 



PART III GERMANY 201 

attack upon the police at Frankfort in 1833. These attempts, 
like the murder of Kotzebue, only called forth vigorous 
measures of repression from the opponents of liberal ideas. 
Austria, at Metternich's instigation, made a new assault on 
popular rights. Prussia and the Diet of the Confederation 
joined with her in the effort. The censorship of the press was 
made more rigid, and other reactionary steps were taken. 
Such coercion only deepened the desire for political emancipa- 
tion and prepared the way for serious outbreaks. Yet for a 
time the agitations of the reformers seemed to subside. The 
reactionary princes grew more confident. In 1837 Ernest 
Augustus, uncle of Queen Victoria, who succeeded to the 
throne of Hanover, withdrew the Constitution that had so 
recently been granted. 

Such arbitrary acts only hastened the downfall of absolu- 
tism. But the situation did not materially change in Germany 
for a number of years. The accession of new sovereigns in 
Austria and Prussia was attended with no political results. 
In 1835 Francis II. of Austria was succeeded by his son Ferdi- 
nand I., who was too weak to alter the policy of the Govern- 
ment. In 1840 the death of the Prussian King Frederick 
William III. caused his son, Frederick William IV., to receive 
the crown. From this latter ruler progressive measures were 
hoped for ; for he was not a degenerate, like his fellow-ruler 
on the Austrian throne. Yet his undoubted intellectual gifts 
proved of little benefit to his country. He had no grasp upon 
practical affairs. Visionary and unstable, he drew his inspira- 
tion from the past and failed to adopt a consistent policy of 
conduct. In 1847 he expressed himself unreservedly against 
a Constitution. 

But a crisis soon came, which caused him temporarily to 
alter his views. In 1848 occurred the revolution in France 
which drove Louis Philippe from his throne. Germany caught 
the revolutionary fever. Many of its rulers grew alarmed at 
the signs of popular agitation, and conceded what their sub- 
jects demanded. New and more liberal Constitutions were 
granted in Saxony and Wtirtemberg. In Bavaria parliamen- 
tary government and freedom of the press were wrested from 
the dissolute and timorous King. And in states of less im- 
portance than these similar concessions were obtained. Yet 



202 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

it was not in these minor principalities that the revolutionary 
movement showed the greatest strength and assumed the 
greatest significance. It was felt in the two leading states, 
Austria and Prussia, and it brought about changes in them 
of no little importance. In Prussia the agitation immediately 
assumed an alarming character. A bloody conflict took place 
in the streets of Berlin between the citizens and the populace. 
The startled King abandoned his mediaeval views about the 
absolute rights of sovereigns and put himself at the head of 
the popular movement. On March 21 he issued a proclamation 
declaring his willingness to make liberal concessions, and inti- 
mating his desire to unite all the German powers into one 
imperial state. So to some, who failed to measure his weak 
and vacillating character, the hour for effecting German liberty 
and the leader who was destined to accomplish it seemed to 
have arrived. The Diet of the Germanic Confederation had 
declared for a representative National Assembly. This Assem- 
bly met at Frankfort on May 18, 1848. It spent much time 
in fruitless deliberations, but finally, on March 28, 1849, it 
offered the title of Emperor to Frederick William. 

But Frederick William was not the man to found an empire, 
and this he apparently realized. He declined the offer of the 
Assembly. His experience in his own capital had not been 
happy and did not encourage him to take upon himself new 
and larger responsibilities. A Constitutional Convention had 
met in Berlin in May, 1848 ; but it was largely composed of 
demagogues, and its proceedings were nugatory and impracti- 
cal. It failed to formulate a satisfactory Constitution. The 
King accordingly abandoned his practical policy. Instead of 
falling in with the popular movement, he determined to 
suppress it by force. Berlin was filled with troops ; the Con- 
stitvitional Assembly was dissolved; and a new and highly 
conservative Constitution was announced. Thus ended the 
revolution in Prussia. Yet, though defeated, it had deepened 
the desire for political emancipation and brought the day of 
absolutism nearer to its end. In Austria the movement had 
a similar course and met with a like reverse. In Saxony, the 
Palatinate, and Baden it assumed formidable proportions and 
was at first successful. But Prussia sent her troops into these 
states to crush sedition. The insurgents were overpowered, 



GERMANY 203 



and some of their leaders were shot. Gottfried Kinkel, the 
poet and scholar, who had left his chair at the University of 
Bonn to fight for freedom, was condemned to imprisonment 
with hard labor. After a year of extreme suffering he was 
rescued by the daring exertions of his friend Carl Schurz. He 
made his way to England and there remained until despotic 
rule in Germany gave place to free institutions. 

The insurrections were crushed. The rivalry between Austria 
and Prussia still went on. Each of these states was jealous 
of the other. Each was desirous of gaining power and prestige 
at the expense of the other. At times all Germany seemed 
to divide into two hostile camps, ready to assert the claims 
of Austrian or Prussian supremacy. As years passed the 
despotisms that afflicted Germany were softened. Liberal ideas 
marched on with irresistible force. German scholarship became 
more and more famous. German literature commanded in- 
creasing attention and respect in all the centres of civilization. 
Goethe died in 1832. Very soon his name was on the lips of 
all lovers of literature. Naturally Germans grew proud of 
their achievements ; their patriotism and their aspirations for 
a united fatherland became more deep and fervent. But still 
there was no German nation. Neither diplomacy, force, nor 
voluntary union seemed able to make an empire out of the 
dissevered German states. 

But one man in Germany was forming large schemes, which 
were destined to accomplish even more perhaps than he him- 
self expected from them. Otto von Bismarck, born in Prussian 
Saxony in 1815, entered public life in 1847, and soon attracted 
attention by his extraordinary powers. He served first in the 
Prussian House of Burgesses ; then he represented Prussia in 
the Diet of the German Confederation, where he exerted a wide 
influence. Austria found him a serious obstacle to her plans 
for her own aggrandizement. In 1859 his diplomatic career 
began. He was sent by the King of Prussia to St. Petersburg 
and afterward to Paris ; and at both courts he showed great 
skill in the conduct of affairs and rare knowledge of men. His 
successful career commended him to his country, but the 
breadth and boldness of his conceptions were not yet appre- 
ciated. For while he was adroitly performing his various 
tasks, he was planning for Prussia a great and brilliant 



204 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

destiny. He aimed to make her the dominant power in Ger- 
many, and to accomplish this he saw but one method of pro- 
cedure, and that was force. The German states would render 
homage to but one thing, military greatness. Only the bayonet 
could establish Prussia's ascendency. So Bismarck aimed to 
make her armies the best in Europe. 

The opportunity of accomplishing this purpose was not 
long in coming. On January 2, 1861, William I. had succeeded 
his brother, Frederick William IV., on the Prussian throne. 
In character he was the opposite of his predecessor. He was 
not a visionary, but a man of affairs. His strength did not 
lie in intellectual accomplishments, but in a sturdy sense and 
knowledge of men. He knew how to select his advisers — au 
invaluable instinct in a sovereign — and this knowledge he mani- 
fested conspicuously by making Bismarck his Prime Minister. 
This responsible post Bismarck assumed in September, 1862. 
Almost immediately he showed a masterful hand. The wishes 
of the Chamber of Representatives he regarded as of no conse- 
quence. On one thing only he was bent. He was determined 
to use the national revenues to create an efficient army, and 
this he did in spite ,of all opposition. The representatives 
scolded, censured, and threatened him, and pronounced his acts 
unconstitutional ; but they spoke to deaf ears. Bismarck was 
satisfied that his course of action would make Prussia great, 
and to his mind that was enough to justify it. Practically he 
carried on the government for several years without legisla- 
tive assistance. This high-handed conduct was in utter de- 
fiance of the Constitution ; but the course of events gave it a 
partial justification. On November 15, 1863, Frederick VII., 
King of Denmark, died, and was succeeded by Christian IX. of 
a different line. The right of the new King to the Danish 
throne was unquestioned; whether he was also the lawful ruler 
of Schleswig and Holstein was not so certain. For these 
duchies, on the southern border of Denmark, had for some 
time resisted Danish rule, claiming that they were not gov- 
erned by the same law of succession as the other Danish prov- 
inces. This claim had led to war with Denmark in 1848 
which had lasted till 1850 and into which some of the German 
states were drawn. The difficulty was then settled in favor of 
Denmark. But on the accession of Christian IX. the trouble 



GERMANY 205 



broke out afresh. It is not easy to decide whether the claim 
of Schleswig-Holstein was thoroughly well founded; but at 
any rate the Germans quite generally believed it to be, and 
were full of sympathy for the German inhabitants of these 
duchies. They wished to protect them from Danish aggres- 
sion by armed interference; and this feeling was shared by 
Bismarck. That he cared much for the justice of the case 
may be doubted. He simply saw in the difficulty an oppor- 
tunity for Prussia, and he made the most of it. He made 
common cause with Austria in defending the duchies against 
the Danes, who were speedily overpowered by the combined 
Austrian and Prussian armies. The duchies were ceded to 
the allies in 1864 ; Austria thereupon took possession of Hol- 
stein and Prussia of Schleswig. Thus Bismarck's despotic 
policy was beginning to bear fruit. 

But the far-seeing Prime Minister was ambitious for larger 
triumphs. In 1866 he picked a quarrel with Austria over 
these same duchies, and brought on the Austro-Prussian War. 
Not content with the acquisition of Schleswig, Prussia endeav- 
ored to grasp Holstein too. Austria naturally resisted this 
aggression, and Prussia declared war upon her in June, 1866. 
The move seemed a bold one, for Austria was one of the 
most formidable military powers in Europe. Her population 
(including that of Hungary) greatly exceeded that of Prussia: 
her resources were in every way supposed to be greater. Yet 
Bismarck went into the struggle with absolute confidence, and 
the sequel showed that his confidence was justified. He knew 
what few beside himself did know — that the Prussian army 
was the best drilled and the best disciplined in Europe. He 
placed great hopes, moreover, in the military genius of von 
Moltke, the distinguished Prussian general, and in the effec- 
tiveness of the breech-loading needle-gun. Nor did he expect 
that Prussia would fight her battles all alone. He had secured 
the alliance of nearly all the North German states ; and the 
Italians stood ready to strike a blow for their own freedom 
and thus to keep a portion of the Austrian army busy in North 
Italy. 

But the world, not knowing the completeness of Bismarck's 
preparations, was astonished at the shortness of the war. 
The Prussians took the aggressive. In the closing days of 



206 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

June they entered Bohemia in three grand divisions. First 
winning a number of minor engagements and meeting with but 
one or two repulses, they converged near Koniggratz, a forti- 
fied Bohemian town. Here, on July 3, took place the decisive 
battle of the war. Some 400,000 men were engaged in it, and 
it was for a time fiercely contested. But in the end the supe- 
rior strategy of von Moltke caused the Austrians to flee in 
disorder from the field. Their power was now completely 
broken. Other reverses followed in rapid succession. The 
Prussians pushed their way within a few miles of Vienna, and 
on July 30 an armistice was signed. 

Thus in six weeks the war was brought to a conclusion. In 
that brief period Prussia had humbled a first-rate military 
power, subdued Hanover and Saxony and the other German 
states that had sided with her rival, and restored Venetia to 
Italy. For though the Italian armies had met with nothing 
but disaster, Prussia did not forget her ally when the terms of 
peace were made. Moreover, she had brought the Germanic 
Confederation to an end, owing to the opposition she had en- 
countered in its Diet. The Confederation, indeed, seemed to 
be no longer needed. Prussia herself had become a centre 
round which the other German states could rally. She had 
now a commanding position in the German world. 

Thus the policy of Bismarck was triu.mphant. All criticism 
of his arbitrary conduct ceased ; and on returning to Berlin 
from the theatre of action he was received with the wildest 
enthusiasm. The Chamber of Deputies was now ready to 
make any grants he desired for the army ; and this willing- 
ness he turned to good account. The army was kept in a high 
state of efficiency. Bismarck did not seek further wars, but war 
soon came. In 1870 began the deadly struggle with France. 
Though Bismarck was not the means of bringing it on, he saw 
in it a great opportunity. Not only did the North German 
Parliament vote to give Prussia its support, but, contrary to 
Napoleon's expectation, the South German states agreed to as- 
sist her also. By the help of these allies Prussia was able 
to bring into the field over six hundred thousand men, while 
France could not muster much more than half that number. 
So Bismarck felt as sure of the result as he had been on the 
eve of the war with Austria. 



GERMANY 207 



The conflict began, and once more was Bismarck's confi- 
dence shown to be justified. France offered a more obsti- 
nate resistance to the Prussian armies than Austria had done ; 
but soon Napoleon Avas a prisoner and Paris in a state of siege. 
The position of Prussia had now become a commanding one. 
Her magnificent triumphs roused all Germany to enthusiasm. 
The states were ready to follow wherever she would lead. Her 
King could well assume imperial dignity. A parliament of 
the North German states met at Berlin on November 24 and 
voted to request the King of Prussia to become German Em- 
peror. The King granted the request. On January 18, 1871, 
the Empire was proclaimed at Versailles amid the booming of 
cannon and the acclamations of assembled princes. William I. 
was solemnly declared German Emperor. 

Thus the aspirations of the German people were satisfied. 
They had gained unity. More even than this — they had 
gained political freedom. For it was over no group of des- 
potic states that the new Emperor assumed his sway. The 
struggle for constitutional rights had been long and severe, 
but it had been won. Little by little the old despotisms had 
crumbled before modern ideas. The states that gave their hom- 
age to William I. were constitutional states. Very gradually 
their sovereigns had granted the demands of their subjects. 
None of them would any longer have dared to claim absolute 
power. It was only a few years since William, as King of 
Prussia, had at Bismarck's instigation crushed free speech and 
set aside his Parliament. But such a high-handed proceeding 
was no longer possible in a single state of the new Empire. 

And yet, though constitutionalism was triumphant, absolu- 
tism was not dead. Bismarck was recognized as the unifier 
of Germany. His power was almost unbounded. William 
gave him the rank of Prince and made him Chancellor of 
the Empire. But the Chancellor had never shown himself a 
friend of popular government, and to the end of his political 
career he used his authority in an arbitrary and masterful way. 
He could not ignore the Reichstag, or National Parliament, as 
he had the Prussian Chamber of Deputies ; but he stood ready 
to intimidate or coerce it whenever it opposed him. During 
his long term of office he strove with varying success to accom- 
plish six great ends. 



208 THE TP:UT0NIC NATIONS book i 

I. He was fully determined to maintain Germany's military 
prestige and power. Having wrested Alsace and Lorraine 
from France, he knew that Germany must always be prepared 
for war with that irritated and resentful nation. The French 
strained every nerve to maintain a vast and efficient army. 
Bismarck felt that Germany's army must be equally large and 
strong. Sometimes the Reichstag objected to the expenditure 
of money and energy necessary for keeping so many men under 
arms; but it did not dare to imperil the safety of the Empire 
by resisting the Chancellor's demands. In the end, Bismarck 
got whatever grants of men and money he wanted. 

II. For the perfect security of the Empire, the alliance of 
other powers was necessary. For a time, after the war with 
France was ended, Germany maintained the most friendly 
relations with Russia. But Bismarck soon became convinced 
that Austria and Italy were more valuable allies. Accordingly, 
he induced these states to form with Germany that famous 
league which is known as the Triple Alliance, and which still 
exists. But even this arrangement did not satisfy him. Hav- 
ing dropped the Tsar, he became anxious to secure his friend- 
ship. In 1884 he formed a secret treaty of " benevolent 
neutrality " with Russia, which lasted till his retirement from 
office in 1890. The existence of this treaty was not revealed 
till 1896, and its disclosure called down severe censure upon 
the aged statesman. The proceeding cannot be regarded as 
strictly honorable. Austria and Italy have resented it since 
it was made known, and have considered that they were not 
fairly dealt with. But Bismarck always worshipped might 
more than right. To secure a great end he sometimes adopted 
questionable means. 

III. Bismarck made vigorous war upon the Roman Catholic 
clergy in order to bring them entirely under Government con- 
trol. Pope Pius IX. was not wholly friendly to the new 
Empire, and the clergy sometimes reflected his spirit. In 
1873, therefore, laws were passed by the Prussian Parliament 
which greatly curtailed clerical authority. They were called 
the May Laws, because they were passed in the month of 
May ; and were designed to regulate punishments inflicted by 
ecclesiastical dignitaries, and to require university training 
of those who were to be priests. The Reichstag also passed 



GERMANY 209 



a law which made it illegal to discharge clerical functions with- 
out the consent of the Government. 

The passage of these laws produced a coolness between the 
Vatican and Germany. The Pope declared them invalid. The 
German Catholics were angered by them. But they were for 
a time rigidly carried out, and as a result many Catholic sees 
and bishoprics became vacant, for their heads came into con- 
flict with the laws and were removed. But finally Bismarck 
felt inclined to make concession. He needed the support of 
the powerful Catholic, or Centre, party in the Reichstag for 
his financial and other schemes. Moreover, Pius IX. died in 
1878 and was succeeded by Leo XIII,, who was not unfriendly 
to the Empire. Negotiations were therefore opened between 
the Vatican and Berlin. At first they resulted in failure ; but 
in the end the obnoxious laws were greatly modified, and some 
of them repealed. Bismarck thus gained the support of the 
Catholic party. As the Catholics comprise a third of the pop- 
ulation of Germany, it was highly important to secure their 
entire good-will. So there was no course open to Bismarck 
except concession, though doubtless it was humiliating to him. 

IV. The Socialists showed such activity and such destruc- 
tive tendencies that Bismarck determined to suppress them. 
They did not, in the early years of the Empire, command many 
votes in the Eeichstag; but they were splendidly organized 
for spreading their opinions. Their journals were numerous, 
their printing-presses were busy, their orators were unceasingly 
active. Their literature was widely circulated, and was con- 
stantly winning new converts to their dangerous views. In 
1876 Bismarck endeavored to pass a law to keep them in check ; 
but the Reichstag would not give him its support. The matter 
was accordingly dropped, but was presently revived under new 
and exciting conditions. In the spring of 1878 two attempts 
were made in quick succession upon the life of the Emperor. 
The Reichstag, which, after the first attempt, had still refused 
to pass a coercive measure, was dissolved. The Conservatives 
gained in the elections. By a vote of 221 to 149 the new 
Reichstag passed the law that Bismarck desired. Socialism 
was now under a ban. Its meetings were to be dispersed, its 
literature confiscated, its presses seized. But the law was in 
op^ i-ation for only two and a half years ; and at the end of 



210 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

that time the Socialistic agitation was by no means quelled. 
The disease had been driven beneath the surface, but it had 
become more virulent than ever. 

V. Internal affairs received the Chancellor's vigorous atten- 
tion. His scheme of improvements embraced a reformed coin- 
age, the codification of law, the nationalization of the Prussian 
railways, and a protective tariff. This last measure excited 
the opposition of the Liberals, and it has not contributed to the 
prosperity of Germany. But, both to encourage home industry 
and to substitute indirect for direct taxation, Bismarck believed 
it desirable, and was able to win a majority in the Keichstag to 
his way of thinking. His tariff legislation may indeed be 
considered a part of his effort to promote State socialism. For, 
finding that he could not put down the Socialists, he determined 
to disarm them by borrowing their own ideas, and accomplish- 
ing some of the very things which they aimed to bring about. 
To lighten direct taxation was one part of his programme, also 
to insure workingmen against accidents, poverty, and distress 
in their old age. But these measures did not bring about the 
desired results. The Socialists steadily increased in numbers 
and influence, and Bismarck eventually resorted again to 
repression. Repression, however, was as futile as conciliation. 
With every new election the Socialists gained more members 
in the Reichstag. 

VI. The ceaseless flow of German emigrants to other 
countries made Bismarck desirous of establishing colonies all 
over the world. For he wished to turn the tide of emigration 
toward lands protected by the German flag. But in carrying 
out this plan he worked at a disadvantage. The regions with 
temperate climate were for the most part occupied. It was 
hard to find tracts where Germans could go and live content- 
edly. Africa afforded the most promising field for new settle- 
ments. Within her borders Bismarck established several 
colonies, including those of Damaraland, Usugara, and 
Somaliland. And, in the Pacific, Germany came into collision 
with Spain over the Caroline Islands, and acquired a portion 
of New Guinea and a group to the north of it called the Bis- 
marck Isles. But in no one of these new possessions were the 
Germans willing to settle in considerable numbers. The 1 de 
of German emigration to foreign lands continued as before. 



GERMANY 211 



On March 9, 1888, the aged Emperor William died, deeply- 
regretted by the German nation, and was succeeded by the 
Crown Prince, under the historic title, Frederick III. The 
new Emperor had ability of no common order and true great- 
ness of character. He had played an important part in the 
wars with Austria and France. According to his own memoirs, 
it was he and not Bismarck who first conceived the plan of 
unifying Germany as the result of Prussia's brilliant military 
successes. But his reign was short and filled with suffering. 
On June 15, a little over three months after his accession to 
the throne, he died from a cancer in the throat, and was suc- 
ceeded by his son, William II. 

The change was an unfortunate one. William did not 
inherit his father's broad and liberal mind. Arrogant, narrow, 
and presumptuous, he has given great offence to the progres- 
sive element of the nation. The army is his pride. Its 
officers are treated with special indulgence and favoritism. 
Opposition he does not readily brook, as his conception of his 
power is autocratic. His own speech is immoderate, reckless, 
and unbridled. The free expression of opinion by his subjects 
he resents, and punishes by law when possible. But the cour- 
age, the resolution, the manliness, of his line quite fully belong 
to him ; and in spite of the extravagant nature of his utter- 
ances he hardly deserves the epithet of " madman," which the 
Social Democrats apply to him. 

This self-willed sovereign did not long endure the dictatorial 
ways of his Chancellor. In 1890 Bismarck was obliged to retire 
from oflfice,^ and was succeeded by General Caprivi. The new 
Chancellor, who was soon dignified with the title of Count, 
showed himself a discreet and able man. The task of induc- 
ing the Reichstag to change the organization of the army he 
accomplished with admirable tact and skill. But even while 
his administration won him friends, it raised up numerous 
enemies among those who disliked his devotion to the mili- 
tary interests of the Empire. And finally, as he encountered 

1 Bismarck died on July 31, 1898. Perhaps no statesman of the century 
wrought more important political changes than the " Iron Chancellor." 
What he stood for to the Germans and why they regarded him with 
unbounded admiration is well told in the essay on Bismarck iu Kuno 
Francke's " Glimpses of German Culture." 



212 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

increasing opposition, lie resigned in 1894, and was succeeded 
by Prince Hohenlohe. No change, however, was made in the 
administrative policy. 

Since the Franco-Prussian War the relations of Germany 
with the outside world have been for the most part tranquil. 
Neither have there been any serious domestic troubles besides 
the one or two recorded. The German Empire has now stood 
for more than a quarter of a century. It has gained in wealth 
and population. Its career has been highly prosperous. It 
has taken its place among the great and strong nations of the 
world. Indeed, in military efficiency it is perhaps the strong- 
est of them all. Domestic reforms, moreover, are not neglected. 
In 1896 a new Civil Code was adopted which had been in prepa- 
ration for a number of years. It effects some very important 
changes, including a uniform legal system for the whole Em- 
pire, compulsory civil marriage, and increased stringency in the 
divorce laws. And progressive legislation in regard to finance 
and other vital matters is yearly proposed. 

Yet the condition of Germany does not seem to be wholly 
sound. The Empire is not organized upon a basis of equality. 
The different states do not possess the same powers and privi- 
leges, for Prussia has a dominant position.^ Three-fifths of 
the population of Germany are within her border. Of the 
fifty-eight members of the Bundesrath she has seventeen. In 
the Reichstag she has 236 members out of 397. Her King is 
always the head of the nation, and usually her Prime Minister 
is its Chancellor. The smaller states are, therefore, over- 
shadowed by this strong one. Authority and privilege con- 
stitute the federative principle which holds the separate state 
units together. Yet absolute equality is the recognized prin- 
ciple of citizenship; for universal suffrage prevails through- 
out the Empire. Hence the states are bound together on one 
theory, and individuals on a different, and, indeed, a contrary 
one. At present these two theories seem to produce no con- 
flict. The Germans have a deep-seated respect for authority, 
which makes them acquiesce in Prussia's dominant position. 
But with the growth of socialistic and democratic ideas may 
come an assault upon the federative principle of the Empire. 
And already are heard angry sounds which, perhaps, herald 
1 " Governments and Parties in Continental Europe," Vol. I. Ch. V 



GERMANY ' 213 



a political tempest. The Social Democrats are ever gaining 
in numbers and influence, and they are extremely bold and 
outspoken. In the Reichstag they make a continual attack 
upon the lingering absolutism of the Government. Its attempts 
to suppress them by force they denounce with vehemence, and 
the costly and oppressive military system excites their fiercest 
opposition. By revolution or by peaceable progress they aim 
to overthrow the present social and political system, and to 
establish communism in its stead. That their hopes will be 
realized seems improbable. Yet the moderate Liberals are to 
some extent in sympathy with them, and are ready to unite 
with them to secure a more truly democratic form of govern- 
ment. For the government of William II., which makes criti- 
cism of the Emperor a ground for imprisonment, exalts the 
military power above the civil, and prizes colonial expansion 
more than domestic progress, the Liberals do not feel profound 
respect. Democracy, therefore, seems likely to grow upon 
German soil. Whether its growth will mean the disruption 
of the Empire remains to be seen. It is probable, however, 
that the people, with universal suffrage in their hands, will 
accomplish all political changes by slow and orderly process. 
Having gained national unity they will cling to it tenaciously ; 
and the Empire, which healed the dissensions of a thousand 
years, will not easily lose their allegiance. 

The German Empire established by the Constitution of 1871 
is composed of twenty-six states, which differ greatly in size 
and importance, and bear the various characters of kingdoms, 
grand duchies, duchies, principalities, and free towns. The 
Empire has an area of 208,738 square miles, and a population 
of about 53,000,000. Its head is the King of Prussia, who by 
the provisions of the Constitution is recognized as German Em- 
peror. The Emperor has the control of the army ; can declare 
defensive but not offensive war ; make peace, form treaties, 
and appoint and receive ambassadors. There are two legisla- 
tive Chambers, the upper of which is the Bundesrath. This 
body is composed of fifty-eight members and meets once a 
year. The members are appointed annually by the govern- 
ments of the several states. The number allotted to each state 
is proportional to its population. The Bundesrath is presided 



214 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

over by the Chancellor of the Empire. It is an administrative 
and advisory board as well as a legislative body. The Reichs- 
tag has 397 deputies, who are chosen by universal suffrage 
for three years. Like the members of the English House of 
Commons, they serve without pay. All laws passed by an 
absolute majority in the Bundesrath and the Reichstag must 
receive the assent of the Emperor, who has no power of veto. 
The Reichstag elects its own President. The Chancellor is 
allowed to attend its deliberations. 

Education is compulsory throughout Germany, and the per- 
centage of illiteracy is exceedingly small. All forms of wor- 
ship are tolerated and absolute religious freedom exists. 

The annual expenditure is about $300,000,000. There is no 
yearly surplus or deficit; for the states contribute whatever 
sum is needed in addition to the returns from the national 
sources of income. These returns come chiefly from customs 
and excise duties and a few state monopolies. The national 
debt is a little over $400,000,000. But each state has also 
its own separate debt, that of Prussia alone being over 
$1,000,000,000. 

The army of Germany is without an equal in the world. By 
the conditions of service adopted in 1893 every German able 
to bear arms is obliged to serve two years in the army under 
active duty, or, if he belongs to the cavalry or horse artillery, 
for three years. He must also serve for several years more 
in the army of reserve. The total strength of the regular 
standing army is fixed by law at 479,229 men. The organizar 
tion of the army is so perfect that it has been partially 
adopted by other European states. The navy, though inferior 
to that of England or France, is large and formidable and is 
growing rapidly. 



CHAPTER II 

HOLLAND 

The path of political progress is supposed to lead toward 
democracy; but Holland has passed from republicanism to 
monarchy. Born midst the throes of the long struggle for 
liberty, the Dutch Republic lasted for over two hundred years 
and won for itself a proud place among the nations. Like the 
Greeks, the Dutch showed that a small people could have a 
great destiny. They gained their independence by the most 
heroic struggle recorded in history; they rivalled England 
upon the sea, and in art and learning they achieved the 
highest renown. 

But in time they had to give place to greater and more 
powerful nations. The Dutch Republic had served liberty 
as well as England in the mighty march of events. Gradually 
it sank into the rank of a second-rate nation and lost all claim 
to supremacy upon the seas ; and a disastrous war with Eng- 
land in 1782 was the culmination of national misfortunes. 
And meanwhile internal troubles had arisen and caused 
serious disturbance. The House of Orange, to which the 
Republic originally owed its greatness, had won devoted 
friends by its eminent services and created bitter enemies by 
its arrogance. In 1747 the office of Stadtholder, or chief ex- 
ecutive, was made hereditary with this House, which, thus 
strengthened, aspired to the loftier dignity of royal power. If 
its head had been a man of commanding abilities this ambition 
might possibly have been realized. But William V., who be- 
came Stadtholder in 1751, was weak and inefficient; and his 
incapable rule became so unpopular that it was unable to rally 
the people to its support in time of need. The outbreak of 
the French Revolution caused a wave of democratic feeling to 
flow over the Netherlands. Accordingly, when the French 

215 



216 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

invaded Holland toward the end of 1794, the Dutch welcomed 
their approach, and William was obliged to flee from the 
country.^ And with his disappearance the Dutch Republic, 
which had existed from the days of William the Silent, came 
to an end. On February 16, 1795, deputies from the various 
provinces of the Netherlands met at the Hague, abolished the 
Stadtholderate, and established the Batavian Republic. A 
new Constitution, which granted a more liberal system of 
representative government, was adopted, and for a time it ap- 
peared that the Dutch people had made a decided political 
gain. 

But the gain soon proved to be illusory. The new Constitu- 
tion, instead of securing order and progress, was but the begin- 
ing of political changes. In the course of a few years the 
form of government was changed several times; and in 1806 
Napoleon Bonaparte made his brother, Louis Napoleon, King 
of Holland, and gave the country a new Constitution which 
recognized the Salic Law, guaranteed religious freedom, and 
vested predominant authority in the King.^ 

Thus the Dutch adopted monarchy under compulsion ; but 
before many years they accepted it of their own free will. 
For a short time indeed they lost their independence altogether ; 
for in 1810 Louis Napoleon withdrew from the country after a 
brief attempt at reigning, and in the same year Napoleon 
Bonaparte made Holland a portion of his Empire. But in 
1813, when his power was seen to be waning, the Dutch reas- 
serted their independence. As their attempt at democracy in 
1795 had not been crowned with success, and as the powers of 
Europe had set themselves against the principles of the French 
Revolution, the Dutch people now showed a conservative tem- 
per in choosing their form of government. Instead of reviving 
the Republic they established a monarchy; and in spite of 
the antagonisms that had been created by the last Stadt- 
holder, it was to the House of Orange that they now looked 
for a sovereign. So powerful was the influence of the reac- 
tionary movement. William V. himself, who had taken refuge 
in England when he was driven from the Netherlands, was no 

1 The feeling of the Dutch people at this time is described in Can's " Hol- 
land," published in 180<) (see p. 78). 

2 This Constitution is given in full in Carr's " Holland," pp. 80 et seq. 



HOLLAND 217 



longer living ; but his son Frederick William was called to the 
throne. Thus the long conflict between the House of Orange 
and its enemies resulted in the complete victory of the former ; 
and thus the Royalists finally succeeded in establishing mon- 
archy on the free soil of Holland. 

William I., King of the Netherlands, was the title given to 
William Frederick by the notables of Holland in 1814. The 
Congress of Vienna recognized him as a sovereign, and added 
Belgium to his domain. But that autocratic body, which, 
under Metternich's guidance, supported the cause of absolutism, 
did not try to make the newly established monarchy into a 
despotism. This the Dutch would scarcely have tolerated, for 
they had first risen to greatness by defying the tyranny of 
Philip II. Reactionary though they were in reverting to a 
monarchy, they stood fast for the principle of constitutional 
sovereignty. The power of the King was hedged about by a 
Constitution which distinguished between the legislative and 
the executive functions of government, and placed the former 
largely in the hands of a parliamentary body. The crown was 
made hereditary with the House of Orange. In elevating 
William to the rank of king the powers had been actuated, not 
by generosity, but by their regard for the interests of Europe. 
For the importance of the Netherlands region had been shown 
by Napoleon's schemes of conquest ; and in making it into a 
kingdom the powers hoped to prevent the aggrandizement of 
France. But their ideas of nation-making were crude and 
faulty. Believing that the prosperity of a kingdom depended 
upon the power of its king, and not upon the temper of his sub- 
jects, they ignored the wishes and feelings of Belgium. In- 
deed, they supposed that both Holland and Belgium would 
consider it an honor to be counted among the kingdoms of 
Europe. But differences of race and religion soon caused dis- 
sension between the northern and southern provinces of the 
new kingdom, and led to the division elsewhere described. 

Shorn of half of his domains, William found a recompense 
for this loss of territory in the union and loyalty of his sub- 
jects. He reigned until October, 1840, and then abdicated in 
favor of his son, William II. Under this sovereign the king- 
dom was prosperous; and owing to the conservative Dutch 
temper the wide-spread revolutions of 1848 caused no serious 



218 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

disturbances in Holland. The Liberal movement did indeed 
extend into tbe Netherlands ; but as a new Constitution was 
granted on April 17, 1848, very soon after Louis Philippe was 
overthrown and the insurrection in Germany, Austria, and Italy 
had begun, there was no occasion for a vehement outbreak. 
For the new Constitution was liberal in character. It secured 
to the people every fundamental right which they desired. 
Not fuller guarantees of liberty, but greater respect for exist- 
ing ones was what was needed for the political progress of the 
country. William 11. died on March 17, 1849, before he had 
had time to show whether he was ready to abide by the Con- 
stitution he had granted. But his son William III., who suc- 
ceeded him at the age of thirty-two, soon made it apparent 
that he possessed the stubborn temper of his House. Possibly 
his arrogance was increased by his Russian inheritance, for his 
mother was a sister of the Czar Nicholas I., who ruled his own 
country like a despot. Although the Constitution required the 
King to govern through the party that was in power, William 
showed no disposition to respect the provision. A Conserva- 
tive himself, he insisted upon retaining Conservative ministers 
even when the Liberals had a majority in the National Parlia- 
ment. Hence arose a long constitutional struggle between the 
King and the Conservatives on the one hand, and the Liberal 
party on the other; and thus Holland was drawn into that 
warfare which was waged all over Europe. Fortunately for 
the cause of progress, Holland was not without a great Liberal 
statesman in this important political period. M. de Thorbecke 
was for many years the recognized leader of the Liberal party, 
and under his able guidance it finally succeeded in scoring a 
decided triumph. 

The storm broke in 1866 over the question of putting an end 
to forced labor in the island of Java. In 1862-63 the States- 
General had voted to abolish negro slavery in Holland's West 
Indian possessions ; and the Liberals were desirous that eman- 
cipation should be extended also to her holdings in the far 
East. For they considered that the labor system which 
existed in Java and other islands in the Asiatic Archipelago 
was no better than slavery. But this proposition was stoutly 
resisted by the Conservatives, who declared that the abolition 
of forced labor in Java would ruin the island and cripple 



HOLLAND 219 



Holland itself. Accordingly, they succeeded in defeating the 
first emancipation bill, which was brought forward in 1865. 
But they ruined their own cause by their high-handed conduct ; 
for, in defiance of popular opinion, the Government chose for 
Governor-General of the East Indian Colonies a man who had 
sold his liberal principles for political preferment. This act 
called forth a vote of censure from the States-General, and the 
King met the situation by dissolving the Second Chamber, 
which represented the people. He accompanied the dissolu- 
tion with a proclamation to the voters of the realm, in which 
he thus defended his own political attitude: "The continual 
changing of my responsible advisers would gradually become 
pernicious to the moral and material well-being of the nation, 
by crippling the powers of government. Steadiness of aim, on 
the contrary, increases the power of the administration, and of 
the executive." 

The election which was held on October 31, 1866, showed a 
slight Conservative gain, and the King was so far encouraged. 
But the Liberals still had a small majority in the Second 
Chamber, and they were able to make themselves felt in the 
following year. For in 1867, the duchy of Luxemburg, which 
had been granted to William in 1815, not as a part of his 
kingdom, but as a private possession, became the subject of a 
special conference' of plenipotentiaries of the great powers, 
Holland, Belgium, and Italy ; and the Liberals were not satis- 
fied with the Government's action in the matter. This dissat- 
isfaction the Second Chamber expressed in a formal vote ; and 
on November 26 it rejected the foreign budget by a majority 
of two. The ministers consequently offered their resignation ; 
but the King declined to accept it, and resorted once more to 
the policy of dissolution. The new elections were held on 
February 22, 1868, and resulted adversely to the King ; for the 
Government's supporters now numbered but thirty-five against 
thirty-eight who were ready to vote in opposition. 

Still the King refused to yield. When the new session of 
the States-General was opened on February 25, the opening 
speech of the Government ignored the fact that its supporters 
were in a minority, and plainly intimated that it expected the 

1 Luxemburg was finally made a neutral province, ajid its fortress was 
dismantled in 1872. 



220 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

States-General to give it a willing support. " Let us all," it 
concludes, ''unite in affection toward our sovereign, and in 
care for his faithful peoplB, and the country will profit by our 
labors." 

This subtle appeal to the loyalty of the people inclined the 
less resolute Liberals to a policy of conciliation ; but it did not 
turn M. de Thorbecke from, his course. Uncompromising in 
his advocacy of parliamentary rights, he spoke on March 2 
upon the political issues before the country, and declared that 
the frequent dissolution of the Chamber was uncalled for. 
This view was maintained by other Liberals, who severely con- 
demned the Ministry for complying with the King's illegal 
demands. The Government's policy was defended by the 
Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Foreign Affairs ; 
but their pleas did not prevent the Chamber from passing on 
March 21 the following resolution by a vote of thirty-nine to 
thirty-four : " The House, having heard the statements of the 
ministers, is of opinion that the country's interests did not 
require the last dissolution of the Chamber." This vindication 
of constitutional privilege was followed on April 28 by another 
act which reflected upon the Government ; for on that date, by 
a vote of thirty-seven to thirty-five, the Second Chamber re- 
jected the estimates of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. 
Thereupon the Ministry tendered their resignation, which the 
King accepted. But although it was de Thorbecke who had 
secured the triumph for the Constitutionalists, the King would 
not at once ask him to form a new Cabinet. Even as Queen 
Victoria tried to make Lord Hartington Prime Minister in 
1880, when the country demanded Mr. Gladstone, so King 
William ignored M. de Thorbecke, and turned to men of more 
moderate views. M. van Riener and Baron Mackay were each 
requested to select a Ministry, but each found the task impos- 
sible. There was therefore no alternative but to recognize the 
leader of the Liberal party. On May 23 de Thorbecke was 
asked to select a Cabinet. He formed one without difficulty, 
and the long constitutional struggle was brought to an end. 
The conflict was waged in a small country and excited little 
notice ; none the less it was one of the significant political con- 
flicts of the century. The representatives of the Dutch people 
stood firmly for their constitutional rights, and compelled the 



HOLLAND 221 



King to abandon the theory that he could ignore the will of his 
subjects by maintaining an irresponsible Ministry. Thus in 
Holland, as in most of the progressive nations of Europe, the 
principles of democracy triumphed over the mediaeval view of 
the royal prerogative. That this issue of the struggle was 
inevitable may be admitted ; for the Dutch Liberals were as 
stubborn as the King was arrogant. Moreover, the Constitu- 
tional party was demanding nothing more than was guaranteed 
in the fundamental law of the land ; nothing more than Was 
warranted by the progress and the political temper of the 
times. None the less M. de Thorbecke earned the lasting 
gratitude of his countrymen by his splendid stand for consti- 
tutional liberty. He resisted the tyranny of the King in the 
same spirit that Dutch burghers resisted Philip II., and his 
wise and lofty statesmanship certainly hastened the downfall 
of despotic and irresponsible rule. He died on June 4, 1872.^ 

William III. lived till 1890, and during the rest of his reign 
the course of affairs in Holland was for the most part orderly 
and uneventful. 

There were no serious political conflicts ; but the Constitu- 
tion was revised in 1866, the electoral franchise being extended 
and the numbers of each Chamber of the States-General being 
increased. But in the far East Holland now met with a series 
of disasters through the long and wasting war in Achin. This 
state in the northern portion of Sumatra was once an indepen- 
dent sultanate ; and when Sumatra was ceded to Holland by 
Great Britain in 1824, the stipulation was made that the in- 
dependence of Achin should be respected. But in 1871 Great 
Britain withdrew this reservation, and war between the Achi- 
nese and the Dutch speedily followed. A very costly war it 
proved to Holland, for the Achinese are a fierce Mohammedan 
people, descended from Malay pirates and easily incited to 
rebellion. Hence the Dutch found it almost impossible to 
conquer them; for hardly were they subdued and pacified 
before they were again in arms. Year after year the war went 

1 It is difficult to find in English an adequate account of this gifted states- 
man. Both before and after his death, the English periodicals were strangely- 
silent about him. A brief sketch of his career is given in the earlier editions 
of Vapereau's " Dictiounaire Universel des Contemporaires " : and an account 
of the constitutional struggle in which he took part is contained in Appleton's 
" Annual Cyclopedia," issues of 1866-68. 



222 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

on, exhausting the treasury of Holland and sacrificing its 
youths. Fresh volunteers were constantly sent to this rebel- 
lious district, only to perish through jungle warfare or tropical 
disease. For that strange malady, the berri-berri, caused great 
mortality among the Dutch troops, and finally made it difficult 
to find new recruits in Holland for the depleted armies.^ 
When William died in 1890, Achin was apparently conquered ; 
but in 1896 its people rose once more in rebellion, and were 
only overcome after two years of desperate fighting. But in 
July, 1898, their resistance came to an end. 

William III. had two sons, but both of them died before him, 
and upon his death his granddaughter, Wilhelmina, became 
heir to the throne. She was at this time only ten years of 
age, and her mother. Princess Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont, 
was regent during her minority. As the people were thor- 
oughly loyal to the Orange dynasty, she encountered no serious 
difficulties during the eight years of her regency. Labor riots 
now and then occurred, showing that even into this conserva- 
tive country the modern warfare between labor and capital 
had made its way ; but they did not assume a grave or threat- 
ening aspect. And, although the question of constitutional 
reform was again raised, the agitation was not a stormy one, 
and a bill extending the suffrage was finally passed on Septem- 
ber 6, 1896. Accordingly, when Wilhelmina came to her major- 
ity, in 1898, there were no angry clouds in the political sky. 
The rebellion in Achin had been suppressed, the kingdom was 
united and its population was increasing, and its financial con- 
dition, though disordered by the long war in Achin, was by 
no means desperate or alarming. The coronation of Wilhel- 
mina took place amid wide popular rejoicing and universal 
expressions of loyalty and affection on September 6, 1898. 

Holland is one of the most densely populated countries in 
Europe, having an area of 12,648 square miles, and a popula- 
tion of about 5,000,000. The executive power of the State 
belongs exclusively to the Sovereign, who has also the right 
to dissolve one or both Chambers of Parliament, being bound 
only to order new elections within forty days and to convoke 
the new meeting within two months. 

1 Partly on this account, a bill making military service compulsory was 
passed in 1898. 



HOLLAND 223 



Legislative authority is vested in the Sovereign and in Par- 
liament. The Parliament is termed the States-General and 
consists of two Houses, the Pirst Chamber and the Second 
Chamber. By the Constitution of 1886 fifty members are 
chosen to sit in the First Chamber and one hundred in the 
Second. The members of the Pirst Chamber are elected for 
nine years indirectly by the various states ; those of the Sec- 
ond Chamber are elected for four years directly by the people. 
By the electoral reform act of 1896 the suffrage is given to all 
male citizens who are not under twenty-five years of age, and 
who can show positive signs of capacity and well-being, the 
most important sign being the payment of one or more direct 
State taxes, even though the tax be very small. 



CHAPTER III 

DENMARK 

Denmark has not always been the small and insignificant 
kingdom that it is at present. Knut the Great, who died in 
1035, established his sway over Norway and England, and five 
centuries later Christian I. added Sweden, Schleswig, and 
Holstein to his domains, and made himself one of the most 
powerful sovereigns of Europe. True, the kingdom had its 
periods of weakness and misfortune. It suffered from feeble 
rulers, costly wars, and internal dissensions. It did not long 
hold Sweden in its grasp; and the greatness acquired by one 
sovereign was frequently lost by his successor. Yet, through 
the Middle Ages and the first century after the Reformation, 
Denmark was a considerable and important power in Europe. 

But the common people did not profit by its greatness. 
Alike under powerful and under feeble rulers their condition 
was a most unhappy one. They had no rights and privileges, 
all power being usurped by the King or the nobility, who 
sometimes contended fiercely with each other for dominance 
in the kingdom. But whether the court or the nobles tri- 
umphed, the common people were steadily oppressed. Some- 
times, indeed, they did make a stand for independence. Not 
long after the beginning of the Reformation we find them 
espousing the cause of Christian II. against the nobility; but 
they were defeated and reduced by the nobility to a state of 
slavery. In this condition of serfdom they remained without 
hope of relief so long as the aristocracy kept their ascendency; 
for under the regime of these tyrannical nobles even the clergy 
and the better class of citizens were denied all political privi- 
leges. But under the rule of Frederick III. the power of the 
nobility was broken. This able monarch, who reigned from 
1648 to 1670, seeing how universally the nobility was hated, 

224 



DENMARK 225 



enlisted the people on his side, overthrew the aristocracy, and 
made his own power supreme and unquestioned throughout the 
kingdom. But, contrary to their expectation, the people did 
not profit by this change of masters. They had confidently 
hoped that King Frederick would allow them, through their 
representatives, a share in the government of the country. 
But when, in 1G61, he issued a new charter, it was found he 
had kept all the power to himself. The peasants continued to 
be serfs, and Denmark became an absolute monarchy of the 
most extreme type. 

The era of absolutism, thus inaugurated, continued for over 
a hundred years. But in the latter part of the eighteenth 
century the levelling tendencies of the times made themselves 
felt in Denmark. King Christian VII. was ruling at this 
period, and he was not himself a progressive monarch; but 
though his reign did not end till 1808, he was, in 1784, obliged 
by illness to intrust the powers of government to his son 
Frederick; and under this enlightened prince several needed 
reforms were brought about. The processes of law were im- 
proved, the press was allowed greater freedom, and, in 1788, 
one year before the French Revolution, the peasants were 
emancipated. Thus, at the beginning of the century, we see 
in Denmark, as in the other European nations, signs of prog- 
ress and intellectual awakening; but it is to be noted that 
the country still remained under the rule of an arbitrary king. 
As yet there had been only a very imperfect growth toward 
parliamentary government. 

The liberal measures of Prince Frederick were followed by 
a short period of great prosperity. During the closing 
decade of the eighteenth century the commerce of Denmark 
rapidly grew in volume; but the gigantic struggle which 
Napoleon forced upon Europe soon brought this fortunate 
period to an end. Denmark was ultimately drawn into the 
general conflict, and, espousing the cause of the French Em- 
peror, it shared his fortunes. Its capital was bombarded and 
partially destroyed by an English fleet; its resources were 
exhausted; and, in 1814, it was obliged to cede Norway to 
Sweden, after holding it for over four hundred years. 

From this impoverished condition the country gradually 
recovered, after Europe was relieved from Napoleon's disturb- 



226 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

ing presence. Peace, once restored, brought with it a renewal 
of prosperity. And it brought, also, a growth in liberal ideas 
and a demand for additional reforms. The people were no 
longer satisfied to be without share in the government. Filled 
with the spirit of progress, quickened by development of 
literature and science, they were anxious to obtain the full 
rights of citizenship and to have a voice in managing the affairs 
of the country, instead of rendering a blind obedience to the 
dictates of their sovereign. Nor were their desires for reform 
entirely ungratified. Further changes for the better were made 
in the law courts, the methods of internal administration 
were improved, and new life Avas infused into the educational 
system. But Frederick VI., who had shown a progressive 
spirit while ruling in his father's stead, proved to be a stub- 
born and intractable king. Frowning upon all democratic 
theories, for many years he refused to make the smallest con- 
cessions in the direction of constitutional government. But 
the French Revolution of 1830 had its influence in Denmark, 
as it did in Germany and Italy. Startled by this outbreak, 
King Frederick allowed Consultative Chambers to be estab- 
lished in each one of the four provinces of the kingdom, and 
thus made the first departure from that absolutism that liad 
hung like a cloud over the country for a hundred and seventy 
years. True, the Chambers had but little power, for the King 
could ignore their deliberations; and all their seats were filled 
by members of the aristocracy. But that even this slight def- 
erence should be paid to the will of the people was a political 
fact of deep significance. It was a prophecy of more radical 
changes soon to come. 

But such changes did not come under the next King, Chris- 
tian VIII., ^ who succeeded' Frederick VI. in 1839. For 
Christian, like Frederick, clung jealously to the royal preroga- 
tive and refused to loosen his hold upon the reins of power. 
The affairs of the kingdom he managed with ability. He 
reformed the finances of the country, showed excellent execu- 
tive capacity, and tried to check the growth of liberal ideas 
among his people by showing them that they could be thor- 
oughly well governed under an absolute monarchical rule. But 

1 Christian VIII. was the cousin of Frederick VI., anrl the grandson of 
Frederick V. 



PART III DENMARK 227 

in this endeavor he was not successful. Good government 
could not stay the march of ideas. All over Europe the people 
were clamorous for self-government, and Denmark was swept 
by a wave of democratic feeling. In that little kingdom the 
Liberal party was strengthened by the success of the revolu- 
tionary movements elsewhere, and was helped, moreover, by 
the profound and growing interest excited by the Schleswig 
question. For this duchy, which had long been a source of 
trouble to the Danish Government, was now assuming a com- 
manding position in the national politics. First separated 
from Denmark toward the close of the thirteenth century, it 
had afterward been reconquered, again lost, and finally made 
a part of the Danish kingdom by the Peace of Frederiksborg, 
concluded in 1720. But, though thus incorporated with Den- 
mark, it was alienated by the despotic rule of the Danish 
monarchy. Its people were partly Germans, and they became 
affected by the German aspirations for unity and freedom. 
Their disaffection steadily increased as they saw constitu- 
tionalism make headway in Germany, while its advance was 
effectually stopped in Denmark, their own country; and they 
determined to throw off a rule which they regarded as harsh 
and oppressive. Even the concessions which were granted 
them by the Danish Government only made them more clam- 
orous for independence. And as the people of Holstein shared 
their feelings, a formidable Schleswig-Holstein party was 
formed; and it assumed an aggressive and threatening attitude. 
So long as Christian VIII. remained upon the throne, it saw 
little hope of realizing its ends ; but when he was succeeded 
by his sou, Frederick VII., in January, 1848, it felt that its 
opportunity had come. Its deputies assembled on the 18th 
of the following March, and voted to demand of the Danish 
Government that Schleswig-Holstein be recognized as an inde- 
pendent state, with only a nominal allegiance to Denmark, and 
that Schleswig, like Holstein, be allowed to join the German 
Confederation. 

These demands excited great indignation throughout Den- 
mark, and created a. strong national feeling among the Danish 
people. All eagerly united to resist tiiis insurrectionary 
movement which threatened the dignity and the unity of the 
kingdom. At the same time the Liberal cause was strength- 



228 THE TF.UTONIC NATIONS book i 

ened by the independent attitude of the Schleswig-Holstein 
party. For the Liberals realized that the people of Schleswig- 
Holstein had been estranged by the despotic and unprogressive 
character of Danish rule, and thus they were furnished with 
additional reasons for advocating representative institutions. 
No longer was the Government able to resist their demands. 
A Constitution was drafted, in 1<S48, and, on June 5, 1849, 
it was approved by the Diet and signed by the King. It pro- 
vided for the creation of a Rigsdag, or National Parliament, of 
two Houses, — the Landsthing and the Folketliing, — audit 
bestowed the right of suffrage on all burghers of good reputa- 
tion thirty years old and upwards, excepting those who are 
without households and are not employed in the })ublic service. 
The members of the Landsthing are appointed for eight years 
by electors chosen by the people. Those of the Folkething 
are elected directly by the voters of the nation. The E-igsdag 
must be convened every year for at least two months, and no 
law is valid unless it has been ratified by both its Houses and 
has received the signature of the King. But, although his sig- 
nature must be accompanied by that of a responsible minister, 
the King has the power of absolute veto, and he can dissolve 
either or both of the Houses of the Rigsdag, provided he con- 
venes a new Parliament within two months. Thus, it appears 
that the Constitution of 1849 was far from placing sovereign 
power in the hands of the people. It adopted the institutions 
of democracy, but it kept the spirit of absolutism. While in 
England the sovereign is powerless to thwart the people's will, 
in Denmark the people are wellnigh powerless before the 
caprice of their sovereign. The triumph of constitutionalism 
was a very imperfect one, as subsequent events were to prove. 
It was perhaps as complete as it could have been expected to 
be after so many years of absolute rule ; but it left room for 
conflicts between the Government and the representatives of 
the people ; and before many years had passed such conflicts 
arose and absorbed all the political energy of the kingdom. 

But for a time the Schleswig-Holstein question put all others 
in the shade. It did, indeed, excite political controversies and 
lead to constitutional changes and reforms. For Denmark was 
anxious to keep its hold upon these two duchies, and was will- 
ing to pass such legislation as would conciliate their peoples. 



DENMARK 229 



But though it suppressed the insurrection that broke out in 
Schleswig in 1848, it was prevented by Germany from treating 
Schleswig as an integral part of Denmark, and giving it the 
benefit of the new Constitution which had just been granted. 
So Schleswig continued to be uneasy and disaffected under 
Danish rule; and Holstein, as a member of the German Con- 
federation, owed Denmark only a partial allegiance. More- 
over, King Frederick had no son, and it was probable that the 
people of Schleswig-Holstein would dispute the right of his 
successor to count them among his subjects. So menacing, 
indeed, did this question of succession appear, that the great 
powers gave it their attention. Prince Frederick of Hesse, 
nephew of Christian VIII., seemed to be the rightful heir to 
the throne; but he resigned his rights in favor of his sister, 
Princess Louise; and her husband. Prince Christian of Gliicks- 
burg, was recognized as Frederick's successor by the powers 
in 1852. The question of succession being thus peacefully 
settled, it would have been wise for Denmark to keep the 
whole Schleswig-Holstein matter as quiet as possible. Yet 
it was difficult to let it alone. King Frederick was anxious 
to make Schleswig a corporate part of his kingdom; and there 
were Danish statesmen who, in spite of German interference, 
were determined that Schleswig-Holstein should be brought 
under the provisions of a joint Constitution, instead of having 
a distinct and peculiar status in the monarchy. So, partly to 
this end, the Constitution of 1849 was considerably modified 
in 1855 and again in 1863. But, in the end, all efforts to pre- 
serve these troublesome duchies proved unavailing. How, 
upon the death of Frederick VII., they disputed the authority 
of his successor anil were wrested from Denmark by Austria 
and Prussia has been elsewhere related.^ 

But, in spite of the absorbing nature of the Schleswig-Hol- 
stein difficulty, the reign of Frederick was marked by a num- 
ber of progressive measures. At one time the King surrounded 
himself with narrow advisers, and in their efforts to carry 
their political ends the Government seriously interfered with 
the liberty of the press. But in time these restrictions were 
entirely removed, and other important reforms were brought 
about. The administration of justice was greatly improved; 

1 See p. -JOi. 



230 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

education was made more general, and its standards were raised ; 
civil marriages were recognized as legal ; and the Jews were put 
on an equality with others before the law. Moreover, the 
material interests of the country received due attention, for 
trade and agriculture were encouraged, and railroads and tele- 
graph lines were greatly extended. In spite of the difficulties 
over Schleswig-Holstein, the reign of Frederick VII. was a 
prosperous one ; and this monarch, who endeavored to abide by 
the spirit of the Constitution, was sincerely regretted by his 
people when he died. 

His successor assumed the throne as Christian IX. on Novem- 
ber 15, 1863. He was a virtuous and estimable man; and his 
children were reared in such admirable simplicity and pos- 
sessed such attractive personal qualities that some of them 
obtained positions of distinction in the courts of Europe. The 
Princess Alexandra became the Princess of Wales in 1863; 
Prince Wilhelm was elected King of the Hellenes in 1863; 
and the Princess Maria Dagmar was married to the heir ap- 
parent of Russia, afterward Alexander III., in 1866. But as 
a constitutional Sovereign Christian IX. has made a dreary 
failure. In 1866 he did, indeed, sanction the restoration of 
the Constitution of 1849. That fundamental law was reestab- 
lished, though the method of constituting the Landsthing was 
materially changed. Twelve of its sixty-six members are now 
nominated by the King for life, and the remainder are chosen 
indirectly by electoral bodies, which are appointed by a some- 
what complicated system. But though he restored the Consti- 
tution, Christian did not interpret it to mean that the people 
were to have a share in the government. He allied himself 
with the Conservatives and attempted to rule by means of the 
Landsthing, which represents the wealth and aristocracy of 
the kingdom. The Folkething, which represents the common 
people, he largely ignored, treating it as a mere deliberative 
body without legislative power. But this attitude of the King 
and the Government was bitterly opposed by the Liberals. 
They held that a true system of parliamentary government, 
giving the people through their representatives an authoritative 
voice in the management of affairs, was plainly sanctioned by 
the Constitution, and that the course of the Government was 
therefore illegal. Moreover, they were thoroughly hostile to 



DENMARK 231 



the Government's financial policy; for the Government party 
wished to deVote a large sum annvially to maintaining the army 
and navy and to fortifying Copenhagen, while the Liberals, or 
the Parliamentary party, deemed such expenditure extravagant 
and unnecessary. Naturally this condition of affairs occasioned 
great political disturbance. In 1875 Jacob Estrup became the 
head of the Cabinet and leader of the Government party, and 
this man the King sustained in power, in spite of hostile 
majorities, for nineteen years. In vain did the Liberals in the 
Folkething unite against him every year and defeat his budget. 
The Landsthing sustained him, and the King repeatedly dis- 
solved the Folkething, though only to find that a Liberal 
majority was each time returned by the people. Nor did M. 
Estrup lack means to carry out his financial schemes, even 
though the Folkething refused to approve of his budget. By 
the aid of a clause in the Constitution he raised and expended 
money after the Kigsdag had dispersed; and so many of his 
expenditures were reasonable and necessary that the Folkething 
could not well refuse to sanction them when it came together 
again. 

But this political situation was too strained and unnatural 
to last indefinitely. In the elections of 1892 the Liberals 
gained a victory so sweeping that the Conservative Ministry 
was obliged to retire from office. First securing the passage 
of certain measures they desired, by promising the Liberals to 
give the Government into their hands, M. Estrup and his col- 
leagues resigned their offices in 1894. But though the Liberals 
now came into power, the political currents did not yet run 
smoothly. It was the moderate Liberals that had made the tem- 
porary alliance with their old-time enemies and helped to carry 
certain conservative measures ; the Radicals had disapproved 
of this course, and it soon appeared that the country was with 
them. For in the elections of 1895 the Radicals made strik- 
ing gains and seated 52 members; while 28 Moderates were 
returned, 24 Conservatives, and 9 Socialists. The Ministry did 
not retire, however, till May, 1897, when it encountered strong 
opposition both in the Landsthing and in the Folkething, and 
gave way to a new Cabinet, which also represented the mod- 
erate Liberals. But when the national elections again oc- 
curred, in April, 1898, the Radicals made still further gains, 



232 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS 



and were now able to command an absolute majority in the 
Folkething. For in the new House 63 members belonged to 
their party, 23 to the Moderates, 12 to the Socialists, and 15 
only to the Conservatives. The Cabinet, however, did not 
resign, as it relied upon the support of the Landsthing, where 
the Conservatives were still in the majority. A new Lands- 
thing was chosen in September of this year, but the situation 
remained unchanged; for the Conservative members of the 
Upper House now numbered 43, and the Opposition members 
only 23. The Ministry, accordingly, still remained in power, 
but it was not easy to justify the position which the Liberals 
had now assumed. For many years they had contended that 
the Ministry should represent the majority in the Lower, or 
popular, House; but now that the Radicals commanded a 
majority in the Folkething, the Liberals still clung to power. 
It would therefore appear that Denmark lias yet to learn the 
full meaning of representative government. 

Denmark has a population of about 2,300,000, and an area 
of 14,775 square miles. The national revenue does not always 
equal the expenditure ; but this fact does not cause uneasiness, 
for the debt of the country is not large (about f 58,000,000 in 
1898), and its exports, which consist chiefly of dairy products, 
are increasing. They are, indeed, of extraordinary excellence, 
and are such an important source of wealth to the country that 
an Agricultural Department, under a responsible minister, 
was established in 1896. The State religion is the Lutheran, 
but all others are tolerated. Elementary education was made 
compulsory as early as 1814, and ever since that time has 
received encouragement from the State. The school age is 
from seven to fourteen, and the public schools, which are 
maintained by communal rates, are free to children whose 
parents cannot afford to pay. 

Iceland 

Settled by the Vikings in 874, Iceland became a republic in 
the following century, and for three hundred years had a vig- 
orous and stirring life. By the year 1100 its population had 
mounted to 50,000, and its literary activity had been so awak- 
ened by the introduction of Christianity one Imndred years 



DENMARK 233 



earlier that it produced the Eddas and Sagas, and thus made 
a valuable contribution to the world's literature. But the 
country became weakened by feuds and passed under the con- 
trol of Norway in the latter part of the thirteenth century ; and 
when Norway was united with Sweden and Denmark in 1389, 
Iceland, too, became a dependency of the latter power. 

Its independence gone, Iceland lost all its energy and vigor, 
and lapsed into a state of apathy which has lasted almost to 
the present day. Yet it has maintained its own separate life 
and its own political institutions. In their secluded island 
home its people have kept alive the manners, customs, and 
beliefs of an earlier day, and have been little affected by the 
eager, strenuous, and restless life of the nineteenth century. 
While kingdoms have waxed and waned, wars have raged and 
socialistic clamors have rent the air, these peaceable islanders 
have pastured their flocks and herds, tilled their lands, and 
sailed their fishing-boats over smooth and stormy seas. Con- 
tented with little, and obtaining that little without effort, they 
have avoided the extremes of wealth and poverty ^ and have 
not needed to ponder over the profound social problems of the 
day. Even the question of education, which has caused so 
much discussion in other countries, settled itself here without 
difficulty; for before there was a public school system the 
children were taught in their own homes, and illiteracy was 
almost unknown in the island. But of late years the public 
schools have received a notable development. 

But in spite of its remoteness and the tractable character of 
its population, Iceland has experienced more than one political 
change during the nineteenth century. In 1800 the old 
Althing, that famous law-making body which had existed since 
930, came to an end, and forty-five years passed before a suc- 
cessor to it was assembled through the sanction of the King of 
Denmark. When a new Althing was finally appointed, it 
began to consider the character of the tie that bound Iceland 
to Denmark, and expressed a desire that the relations between 
the two countries should be clearly defined. This question, 
however, Frederick VII., who came to the throne in 1848, 
was inclined to evade, for he referred it to a constitutive 
assembly, which was to meet in 1851. But the constitutive 
1 See article on Iceland by James Bryce, Littell's Living Age, 121 : 750. 



234 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

assembly never met. The distracting Schleswig-Holstein ques- 
tion absorbed all of Denmark's energies for a time; and after 
it was settled provisionally, in 1850, the Danish Government, 
alarmed by these recent manifestations of discontent, grew 
averse to making concessions or granting privileges to any of 
its subjects. 

So the people of Iceland could not obtain from Denmark the 
chartered rights they desired, but none the less they continued 
to press their claims. Their country had always had its own 
laws; and every King of Denmark, on coming to the throne, 
had guaranteed to Iceland that its ancient privileges should be 
respected. Hence, the people of Iceland were inclined to 
regard the suzerainty of Denmark as nominal rather than real, 
and year after year, through the Althing, they preferred a 
demand for home rule. The leader in the movement was Jon 
Sigurdson, who showed such tact and moderation that the rela- 
tions between Denmark and Iceland were not badly strained. 
For nearly a quarter of a century the yearly request for home 
rule was made without result, as Frederick VII. would never 
accede to it, and Christian IX., who ascended the throne in 
1863, resisted it for many years . But when the people of Ice- 
land were celebrating the one thousandth anniversary of the 
colonization of their island by the Norsemen, Denmark granted 
them autonomy, and the King visited the country in person in 
honor of the occasion. By the new Constitution which was 
then obtained, the island is governed by the King of Denmark 
through a member of his Cabinet, who is responsible to the 
Althing, and through a Governor whom the King appoints and 
who is the chief executive officer. The legislative power is 
vested entirely in the Althing, which consists of two Houses. 
The Lower House contains twenty-four members elected by a 
suffrage which is nearly universal; the Upper is composed of 
six elected members and six who are nominated by the King. 
But this Constitution, though containing some excellent pro- 
visions, did not satisfy the people of Iceland; for they found 
it inadequate to their political needs. In many respects it 
reflected the King's aversion to popular government, and, con- 
sequently, it failed to inaugurate an era of progress and pros- 
perity. True, there have been various attempts to improve 
the social and political condition of the island. Education has 



DENMARK 235 



been encouraged, economics liave received due attention, and 
women have been so far enfranchised that they now have a voice 
in the election of the parish clergy; None the less the people 
of the island have not found their circumstances improving. 
On the contrary, the conditions of living have grown harder 
rather than more favorable, and thousands have in recent years 
abandoned the island, although it could support in comfort a 
much larger population than it contains. Even the bank, 
which was established in 1886, proved a hindrance to com- 
mercial expansion and prosperity ; for, instead of discharging 
the wonted functions of a bank and promoting financial enter- 
prise, it has only enriched itself by exacting extortionate inter- 
est from those who were forced by necessity to borrow.^ 

Altogether the Icelandic people have good reason to be rest- 
less under Denmark's rule and to crave entire independence. 
And there is, indeed, no good reason why, with its isolated 
position and its peculiar institutions and mode of life, it should 
not enjoy absolute and untroubled freedom. 

Iceland contains a little less than forty thousand square 
miles, and has a population of about seventy thousand. 



Quarterly Review, 179 : 58. 



CHAPTER IV 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY 



The Scandinavian Peninsula, unlike the Iberian, contains a 
natural obstacle to the national unity of its people. For its 
mountain system, though it presents few clearly defined chains, 
has yet served to make intercourse difficult and to keep apart 
those who might have mingled freely in a more level country. 
Though varying greatly in height, the mountains of Norway 
and Sweden sometimes rise above eight thousand feet and, 
with their dense, wide-reaching forests, divide the peninsula 
in twain. Along the Atlantic stretches a wild and rugged 
tract of country; while the region that faces the Baltic is not 
mountainous, but consists largely of low hills covered with 
the fir tree and the pine. 

It is not strange, then, that from ancient times there have 
been two kingdoms in the Scandinavian Peninsula. In the 
earliest period of which we have authentic knowledge the 
peoples of the peninsula seem to have been of Teutonic stock, 
but in spite of this they did not blend and make one nation. 
Through the earlier Christian centuries Norway appears to 
have been divided into petty kingdoms, which were not united 
until toward the end of the ninth century. But at that time 
it became one kingdom under Harold Fairhair. About a hun- 
dred years later Sweden, whose history before this time is 
somewhat legendary, found a powerful ruler in Eric, and is 
said by one chronicler to have gained temporary control over 
Denmark. Thvis the two kingdoms make their appearance 
upon the field of authentic history strong, separate, and inde- 
pendent. 

And separate they remained for the most part through the 
centuries that followed. In 1387-89 they both passed under 
the sway of that remarkable woman, Margaret of Denmark, and 

236 



PART III SWEDEN AND NORWAY 237 

thus the three kingdoms were united. From this union, which 
meant that the whole Scandinavian Peninsula was subject to 
the tyrannous rule of Denmark, Sweden was released by Gus- 
tavus Vasa in 1523. And from that year until 1814 Sweden 
and Norway again pursued their separate destinies. 

Sweden 

Eeleased from the Danish tyranny, Sweden had for a time 
a great and splendid career. The genius of Gustavus Adolphus 
rendered her one of the strongest military powers of Europe, 
and enabled her to play a decisive part in the politics of the 
period. This position she kept through the reign of the brill- 
iant but erratic monarch, Charles XII. ; but after his death, 
in 1718, her decline was rapid. She suffered from the conse- 
quences of Charles's wars, during which the nobles had obtained 
control of the Diet and taken to themselves the prerogatives 
of the crown. 

Moreover, removed as she was from Central Europe, Sweden 
could not keep her prestige after Russia and Prussia became 
great and prominent. So for fifty years after the death of 
Charles XII. Sweden remained feeble and inert. Her states- 
men were weak and incompetent, her foreign territory was 
wrested from her, her selfish aristocracy only wasted her 
strength. But their rule was broken by Gustavus III., who 
came to the throne in 1771. A man of ability and decision, 
he gained the support of the military and arrested the members 
of the- Council of State. Then, summoning the Diet, he in- 
duced it to adopt a new Constitution, which vested the execu- 
tive power solely in the King. The supremacy of the 
aristocracy being thus destroyed, Gustavus endeavored to 
rouse the kingdom from its lethargy. He encouraged trade 
and agriculture, fostered art and learning, and strengthened 
the army and navy with a view to winning back Sweden's 
military renown. So entirely was he misled by this ambition, 
that he entered upon a disastrous war with Russia, from which 
he was obliged to withdraw without having accomplished any- 
thing besides proving the loyalty of his subjects. 

But, reformer though he was, Gustavus was no friend of 
those democratic principles which were spreading over Europe. 



238 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

Ruling his own kingdom like an autocrat, he viewed all in- 
fringement upon the royal prerogative with concern. For 
Louis XVI. of France he felt profound sympathy, and could 
he have carried the Diet with him he would have formed an 
alliance to reseat that unfortunate monarch upon his throne. 
But the worst excesses of the French Revolution he did not 
live to see. He was assassinated by one of his nobles in 1792, 
before Louis was executed and the Reign of Terror had begun. 

His son, Gustavus IV., who came to his majority in 1796, 
had his father's independence of character without his father's 
greatness. Hence, Sweden was in a most unfortunate con- 
dition at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Her feudal 
Constitution granted but few rights to the people. Her nobles 
were sullenly bent upon regaining their lost supremacy. Upon 
her throne sat a headstrong and self-willed monarch, whose 
folly made the royal prerogative a menace to the kingdom. 
For Gustavus refused to hold aloof from the great struggle that 
was convulsing Europe. By his meddlesome policy he em- 
broiled Sweden first with France and finally with Russia and 
Denmark; lost the Pomeranian stronghold, Stralsund, and the 
island of Rugen; and brought the kingdom into a position of 
extreme humiliation. And, finally, when Finland was overrun 
by Russian troops and seemed likely to pass out of Sweden's 
possession, the feeling against liim became so strong that he 
was deposed, in 1809, and his posterity was debarred from the 
throne. 

The Duke of Sodermanland (Sudermania), an uncle of Gus- 
tavus IV., had been regent during the latter's minority. 
Coming now to the throne as Charles XIII., he tried to bring 
the affairs of the distracted country into order. But his success 
was not signal. Dull and obstinate though Gustavus was, he 
was yet simple in his habits, conscientious, and high-minded; 
his successor was a selfish old man, governed by favorites, and 
suspected of being privy to more than one unprincipled in- 
trigue.^ During his short reign he was little more than a 
figurehead, and the most important things that he did were 
done rather through the force of circumstances than through 
his own initiative. He ceded Finland to Russia, as it was 

1 His character is described in Laing's " A Tour in Sweden in 1838," pp. 
382-389. 



PART III SWEDEN AND NORWAY 239 

impossible to save it to Sweden; and though the Swedes have 
always grieved sorely over this lost territory/ it may be ques- 
tioned whether they have not been better off without Finland 
than with it.^ Peace was also made with France and Denmark, 
and some important changes were made in the Constitution. 

The Swedes were not inclined to open rebellion, like many 
of the continental races; none the less they were eager to 
obtain a fuller share in the government. Even here, where 
deference to authority was as great as it was in England, the 
voices of the French Revolution raised an echo. Ever since 
1435, when the patriot Engelbrekt summoned a Riksdag, the 
four estates of the nobles, the clergy, the burghers, and the 
peasants, had been consulted in the management of affairs; 
but it was the king and the noble who really ruled. This 
condition of things the burghers and peasants wished to bring 
to an end. For the peace of the kingdom they wished it; for, 
so long as they were set aside, the kings and the aristocracy 
were sure to contend for the supremacy. So they asked that 
they might be more fully represented in the Diet, and that 
the Diet should have those privileges that properly belong to 
a legislative body, including control over taxation. And these 
constitutional reforms were granted by Charles XIII. 

Quite as important as these changes was the union of Nor- 
way with Sweden under the same sovereign. But as this event 
will be more fully treated in the sketch of Norway, it is only 
mentioned here. It was in 1814 that Charles XIII. was pro- 
claimed King of Sweden and Norway. Four years later he 
died without issue, and the throne passed from the House of 
Holstein-Gottorp, which had ruled over Sweden since 1751, 
and at the same time from the descendants of Gustavus Vasa. 

But this contingency had been duly provided for. Soon 

1 For an incident that illustrates this feeling, see Mrs. Baker's "Pictures 
of Swedish Life," p. 392. 

2 " Finland stood, with regard to Sweden, in the same relation as Nor- 
mandy did of old to England. Separated by the sea, inhabited by a Sclavonic 
race, more allied in language and manners to the Russian than to the Swedish 
people, and extending to the very gates, it may be said, of the capital of a 
country of forty millions of inhabitants, could such a province be held by a 
distant nation of three millions? Was there any real advantage from a pos- 
session which kept the nation under arms, even in profound peace, to main- 
tain it, requiring an unremitting military exertion incompatible with her 
industry and prosperity?" — Laing's " A Tour in Sweden in 1838," p. 386. 



240 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

after Charles XIII. came to the throne he was temporarily 
stricken with apoplexy; and this indication of physical feeble- 
ness made it necessary to look for an heir to the throne. The 
choice fell upon the Regent of Norway, Christian Augustus, 
who was connected with the reigning house of Denmark. This 
excellent prince came to Sweden and was warmly welcomed by 
its people ; but in the spring of 1810 he was killed by a fall 
from his horse while attending a military review. A successor 
was found in Jean Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's most dis- 
tinguished marshals. Consenting to become the heir apparent, 
Bernadotte went to Sweden with his family in 1810 and at once 
began to play an important part in the administration of affairs. 
Finding Charles XIII. weak and undecided, he shaped his own 
policy and carried out his own plan of action. In making 
peace with France, Charles had practically delivered Sweden 
into the hands of the Emperor. From this condition Berna- 
dotte freed her by joining the alliance which finally succeeded 
in securing Napoleon's overthrow. In 1818 Charles XIII. 
died, and Bernadotte, who took the title of Charles XIV., was 
elevated to the throne. The bestowal of royalty upon a man 
who is not of royal birth is always an experiment, for a king 
so created is sure to encounter prejudice and unreasoning criti- 
cism; but in this case the experiment was a successful one. 
Charles XIV. never made himself thoroughly popular with his 
subjects, but he aroused no active opposition, and he ruled the 
country firmly and efficiently for nearly thirty years. During 
his reign Sweden made great material progress, for he pro- 
moted the welfare of his subjects in all ways that were con- 
sistent with his conceptions of the royal prerogative. He 
encouraged the construction of railways and canals, brought 
new tracts under cultivation, established factories, and founded 
industrial and technical schools. But, fond of the arbitrary 
exercise of power, he did not give his support to the cause of 
constitutional reform. Already the nation had become dis- 
satisfied with the changes granted by Charles XIII. The 
leaders of public opinion demanded that the Government 
should be made more directly responsible to the people; and in 
1840 the Diet seriously considered the feasibility of this con- 
stitutional change. Probably the change would have been 
effected if the King had given it his hearty support. But 



PART III SWEDEN AND NORWAY 241 

failing to find sufficiently influential champions, the reform 
was not brought about. 

Nor did it meet with any better success in the reign of Oscar 
I., who succeeded his father in 1844. The new King was a 
progressive and liberal-minded ruler, and under him the coun- 
try's material interests were duly cared for. Imports and 
exports were tripled, telegraph lines were extended, railroads 
were built by the State, and the affairs of the kingdom were 
managed with greater economy and system. The laws, too, 
were revised and much improved, the penal code being miti- 
gated, and sisters being allowed to inherit on equal terms with 
their brothers. Yet, in spite of material progress and liberal 
legislation, the Constitution remained unchanged. In the early 
years of the reign the scheme of reform that was considered in 
1840 was again brought forward ; but, though acceptable to the 
burghers and the peasants, it was thrown out by the other two 
estates. Later on another scheme was prepared, largely as a 
result of the revolution in France in 1848. But now it was 
the peasants that deserted the cause of reform. Their repre- 
sentatives in the Diet made common cause with those of the 
nobles and the clergy, and again it proved impossible to effect 
the desired constitutional change. 

But in 1859 there came to the throne a King who gave 
effectual support to the cause of constitutional reform, 
Charles XV. possessed his father's liberal sympathies, together 
with an extremely winning and gracious personality. Admir- 
ably maintaining the royal dignity, he yet made himself loved 
in all the households in the land by his simple and genial 
ways. So devotedly were his people attached to him that they 
became enthusiastic supporters of his line, and the descendants 
of Gustavus Vasa seemed to lose all prospects of becoming 
established on the throne. Under such a king it became easy 
to eifect those changes in the governmental system which had 
been so long desired. In 1866 it was decided that the Diet, 
or Parliament, should consist of a First Chamber, whose mem- 
bers are indirectly elected for nine years, and a Second Cham- 
ber, whose members are chosen for three years by natives of 
Sweden who are twenty-one years old and who possess a small 
property qualification. The Diet has the sole right of impos- 
ing taxes, and it is understood that if the Cabinet and the Diet 



242 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS 



are at variance, the members of the Cabinet shall resign. The 
King can at will dissolve the Diet and order a new election. 
He has also the right to conclude foreign treaties, to preside 
in the Supreme Court of Justice, and to declare war and 
make peace after consulting with the Cabinet or Council of 
State. 

This Constitution, it will be seen, still retains some trace 
of feudalism, in that it vests extraordinary powers in the King. 
But it proved liberal enough to satisfy the Swedish people; 
for since its adoption there have been no further demands for 
constitutional reforms. Under its provisions Charles XV. 
ruled over a happy and united people till his death, which 
occurred in 1872; and his son, Oscar II., who succeeded him, 
has had an equally harmonious and prosperous reign so far as 
his Swedish subjects have been concerned. The political dis- 
turbances which have given him much trouble and anxiety 
have arisen from the restlessness of Norway under the Union 
of 1814. 

Sweden ranks among the largest European countries, her 
area being 172,000 square miles, while that of Germany is 
208,000 and that of France 204,000. But her population is 
only 5,000,000, and not for a long time is the country likely 
to be densely settled. Nearly half of it is covered with for- 
ests, and some of its fertile plains are too far north to be suc- 
cessfully tilled. A considerable portion of the soil, moreover, 
is not richly productive. Agriculture, dairying, timber- 
raising, and mining are the chief occupations of the people. 
Financially, the kingdom is prosperous, its debt being but 
$80,000,000. It supports a standing army of about 30,000 
men and has an inconsiderable navy. 

Norway 

No Gustavus Vasa appeared in Norway to deliver her from 
the rule of Denmark; and, with the exception of a brief period 
of independence in the middle of the fifteenth century, she 
remained a subject province for over four hundred years. 
But the spirit of nationality did not die out during that long 
term of subjection. In 1814 Norway found an opportunity to 
assert her independence, and of this opportunity she eagerly 



PART in SWEDEN AND NORWAY 243 

availed herself. Frederick VI. was King of Denmark at this 
time, and by aiding France he antagonized Russia and Great 
Britain, while Bernadotte made common cause with these 
powers against Napoleon (p. 240) and secured their good-will. 
For a time, indeed, Bernadotte's sincerity was distrusted by 
the allies, for he seemed inclined to let them do all the fight- 
ing and to consult merely for his own advantage. But after 
the battle of Leipsic in 1813, he took an active part in the 
campaigns against France, and in the Treaty of Kiel lie reaped 
the reward of his somewhat tardy services. For by the terms 
of this treaty, which was made between Great Britain, Sweden, 
and Denmark on January 14, 1814, Norway was taken from 
Denmark and given to Sweden. 

But Norway objected stoutly to this change of masters. 
She was glad to be delivered from Denmark, but she had no 
mind to become a part of the Swedish kingdom. As Fred- 
erick VII., the hereditary Sovereign, had released the country 
from its allegiance, the people claimed the right to choose 
their own king. A portion of them, indeed, would have 
chosen Charles XIII. of Sweden, believing that a union with 
the neighboring kingdom was desirable, as it would protect 
Norway from the invasion of ambitious foreign powers that 
coveted her territory. But the majority of the people were 
in favor of entire independence; and this sentiment was the 
prevailing one in the Diet which met at Eidsvold in the spring 
of 1814. The members of the Diet, after full deliberation, 
adopted a Constitution which was extremely liberal in charac- 
ter, declared Norway to be free and independent, and bestowed 
the crown upon Prince Christian Frederick, who had been 
ruling the country as the Viceroy of Denmark. 

This bold and resolute stand was highly patriotic, but natu- 
rally it brought on a conflict with Sweden. For a short time 
Bernadotte's hands were tied by the struggle with Napoleon; 
but before the summer of 1814 was over he appeared in Nor- 
way at the head of a Swedish army. But he encountered a 
more obstinate resistance than he had anticipated. Prince 
Frederick proved, indeed, a weak and irresolute leader, as he 
feared to give battle to the invading forces ; but the Norwe- 
gians themselves were full of spirit, and they defeated the 
Swedes in two engagements, which, though by no means deci- 



244 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

sive, at least showed the stubborn temper of the country. It 
was apparent that Norway could not be subdued without a long 
and bitter conflict. But such a conflict the Swedes, as well 
as the Norwegians, wished to avoid. Accordingly, hostilities 
were suspended in order that an amicable agreement between 
the two kingdoms might be arranged. And as both peoples 
were ready to make concessions, the conditions of a permanent 
union were settled without serious difficulty. On November 4, 
1814, Charles XIII. was proclaimed King of Norway by the 
national Storthing, or Diet, on condition that he recognized 
Norway as a separate and independent kingdom, entitled to its 
own Constitution. This condition was accepted for Charles b}^ 
Bernadotte, and the two kingdoms were thus united under one 
crown. In the following year their position with respect to 
each other was more clearly defined by the liigsakt, or Act of 
Union, which was adopted by both countries. By the terms 
of the Rigsakt the absolute independence of each country is 
fully established.^ 

This adjustment of the relations between the two kingdoms 
would seem to have been a natural and fitting one. Adjacent 
as they are, occupying the whole of the same peninsula, and 
inhabited by kindred peoples, Norway and Sweden have much 
to draw them together. Yet it must be remembered that the 
two countries are unlike in their natural features (p. 236), and 
have developed dissimilar traits in their respective peoples. 
Norway was the Viking's home. Looking out upon the bois- 
terous Atlantic, she has nurtured a race of sea-rovers apd 
hardy, fearless men. Her wild shores, her rugged mountains, 
and her bracing air have fostered her independence and the 
rude, manly virtues. The Norwegians have never been 
respecters of persons. In the Middle Ages, when their gov- 
ernment was in form an absolute monarchy, they yet main- 
tained democratic institutions; and though there grew up an 
aristocracy, it became merged in the peasantry as the royal 
power declined and the country became a dependency of 
Denmark.^ 

i"The Norwegian-Swedish Conflict," by H. L. Braekstad, in tlie Fort- 
nightly Review for January, 1898. 

2 Boyesen's " Story of Norway," p. 448. Keary's " Norway and the Nor- 
wegians," p. 300. 



PART III SWEDEN AND NORWAY 245 

But liowever sturdy and democratic was the spirit which 
Norway bred among her people, her contributions to progress 
and civilization were not great. Separated from continental 
Europe and deprived of her independence, Norway exercised 
no influence upon the course of European politics. She pro- 
duced no kings like Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII. 
Her armies did not wrest victory from the strongest nations. 
Her statesmen did not alter the current of events. Her 
scholars did not guide and quicken human thought. Norway 
was simply a land of plain living, honest thinking, and cou- 
rageous deeds. . 

But Sweden had filled a much larger place in European his- 
tory. She was proud, and justly proud, of her heroic achieve- 
ments, and she could not easily recognize in Norway a kingdom 
of equal power and greatness to her own. Among her kings 
were some of the world's greatest men. Her nobility was 
ancient, polished, and cultivated. Her scholars and men of 
science numbered men of world-wide reputation. Her schools 
and universities were of first-rate excellence, and her history 
had been both great and brilliant. More than once Sweden 
had fought with Russia single-handed, and it was lier invinci- 
ble army that turned the course of the Thirty Years' War and 
saved the Protestant cause in Germany. Altogether, Sweden 
had good cause to consider herself the leading and more impor- 
tant member of the union formed with Norway under Charles 
XIII. Her history was much greater, her population twice 
as numerous, and her civilization riper and more complete. 

But this superiority Norway has never been willing to admit. 
Having entered into the Union on terms of entire equality, 
she has always resented the leadership which Sweden has been 
inclined to assume. Hence, trouble arose between the two 
kingdoms soon after the Union was formed, and time has not 
diminished the dissension between the two powers. It may 
be questioned, indeed, whether such a Union between two 
kingdoms ever proves entirely satisfactory to both members of 
it. Theoretically the two are entirely equal; practically they 
are not. In some of the functions of government one state 
or the other must lead, as the recent history of Austria-Hun- 
gary well illustrates (p. 151). It seems necessary that there 
should be a common foreign policy, and this policy the larger 



246 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

and stronger country desires to shape and dictate. The armies 
of the two countries could not well take the field together 
unless there were a common military language. Moreover, 
the sovereign of the two kingdoms is apt to be especially iden- 
tified with the one which has had the greater and more splendid 
career. We think of Francis Joseph as an Austrian rather 
than a Hungarian. We think of Oscar II. as a Swede rather 
than a Norwegian 5 for it was Sweden that endowed the founder 
of his line with royal power, and it is in Sweden rather than 
in the sister kingdom that he finds the more congenial home. 
He knows that his Swedish subjects are contented under his 
rule, while those of Norway are ever clamorous for rights 
which they do not easily obtain. 

It was not strange, then, that Norway learned in the course 
of time to be jealous of the larger and more powerful member 
of the Union. For, though in some ways her rights as an inde- 
pendent kingdom were strictly guarded, in others they were 
neglected or set aside. In case of the throne becoming vacant, 
Norway has an equal voice with Sweden in the choice of a new 
king; for, by the provision of the Act of Union, the Diets of 
the two countries are to meet together, if such a contingency 
occurs, and appoint a sovereign. If they fail to agree upon 
one, the choice is to be made by an equal number of Swedish 
and Norwegian deputies who meet at Karlstad in Sweden, and 
from their nomination there is no appeal. Nor can Norway 
complain that she is not sufficiently consulted in the manage- 
ment of the joint affairs of the two kingdoms. Of the ten 
ministers that form her Council of State, three are chosen to 
reside at Stockholm, the Swedish capital, and to sit with the 
King and the Swedish Council of State whenever business that 
concerns both countries is transacted. Again, the King can- 
not declare war without first obtaining the opinion of the Nor- 
wegian Council of State as to the project, and getting from it 
a statement as to Norway's military resources and power to 
withstand attack. 

But in spite of these safeguards of Norway's equality in the 
Union, she has still found reason to resent Sweden's assump- 
tion of authority and leadership. In particular, she resists the 
control which Sweden exercises over foreign appointments and 
foreign affairs. For only Swedish consuls are sent to the 



PART III SWEDEN AND NORWAY 247 

cities of other countries; and while the Swedish Council of 
State contains a Minister of Foreign Affairs, that of Norway 
has none. This was an arrangement that was made in the 
early years of the Union, when Norway had few dealings 
with other nations, and it did not then excite her criticism or 
resentment. As her commerce has increased, she has chafed 
under the arrangement and has demanded that it be changed. 
During recent years this demand has grown very strong and 
persistent, and has become the cardinal feature of Norwegian 
politics. The Norwegians insist that their country, as well as 
Sweden, shall have foreign consuls. This reform accom- 
plished, they expect to have their own Minister of Foreign 
Affairs and to see a joint Foreign Ministry for the two king- 
doms also established. Moreover, they have been disturbed 
because Norway had had no royal standard, but only a mer- 
chant flag; and in 1896 the Odelsthing passed a bill providing 
for the creation of a separate standard. 

The appointment of separate foreign consuls would not only 
be greeted by Norway as an act of justice, but would do much 
toward removing those apprehensions which have been excited 
throughout Norway by Sweden's superior power and menacing 
attitude. For some Swedes would gladly see Norway become 
nothing better than a subject province ; and in furtherance of 
this ambition they have tried to influence the King against 
Norway's claims, and have even proposed that the Norwegians 
be compelled by force to revise their Constitution and give the 
King an absolute veto over the legislation of the Norwegian 
Diet.-^ Naturally the Norwegians have been extremely sensi- 
tive over these proposals. Remote as is the possibility that a 
Swedish army would invade their territory, they have yet been 
excited by every rumor that such a resort to force was contem- 
plated. The intensity of their feeling on this burning question 
was shown by a peculiar resolution passed by the Storthing in 
1894. For the Crown Prince having been reported as saying 
that Norway might be invaded by Sweden, the Storthing voted 
to withhold the sum annually contributed to his support by 
Norway until this report should be denied. The Crown Prince 
himself refused to make any statement whatever about the 
matter; but the remarks attributed to him Avere finally denied 
1 The Fortniglitly Review, January, 1898, p. 99. 



248 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

by the Prime Minister, and the usual contribution was then 
made. Whether the feeling revealed by this incident can be 
eradicated is doubtful; but the Union between the two coun- 
tries certainly seems more stable than that of Austria and 
Hungary. 

While the Constitution of Sweden still retains traces of feu- 
dalism, that of Norway is extremely democratic. The King 
with his Council of State forms the executive and is at the 
head of the army and navy. He makes all appointments, and 
he has a temporary right of veto; but any bill that is passed 
by three Storthings separately and subsequently elected, 
becomes a law in spite of his disapproval. The legislative 
power is vested in a Storthing of 114 members indirectly chosen 
by a restricted suffrage. This body meets annually, and for 
business purposes is divided into the Odelsthing, which com- 
prises one fourth of the members, and the Lagthing, which is 
composed of the remainder. All new measures must receive 
consideration in the Odelsthing first and then be submitted to 
the Lagthing. If the two bodies do not agree, they meet in 
common, and a law which is passed by a two-thirds vote in 
this joint session becomes valid. The members of the Stor- 
thing are elected for three years. Agriculture, forestry, fish- 
ing, and luanufacturing form the chief occupations of the 
Norwegian people. The population of the country is about 
2,000,000, and its area 124,495 square miles. Its commerce 
is slowly increasing. 



CHAPTER V 

SWITZERLAND , 

The Swiss Confederation was of German origin. In 1291 
the men of Uri, Scliwyz, and lower Unterwalden formed a per- 
petual league, which was at first purely defensive in character. 
They were subjects of the House of Hapsburg, and they did 
not design to throw off their allegiance to the Emperor; but, 
being submitted to the despotic treatment of bailiffs who 
robbed and plundered them without mercy, they united to pro- 
tect themselves from violence and their property from spolia- 
tion. These three districts, which founded the league, were 
called the Forest States. Gradually they were joined by other 
German districts; and as the Confederation grew in strength, 
its connection with the Empire became weak, and was finally 
abolished by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. 

But, although formed originally to resist oppression, the 
Confederation did not become the home of freedom. During 
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it was little better 
than a dependency of France, and it was largely dominated by 
an aristocracy.^ In the Forest Cantons, where the power was 
exercised by the Landsgemeinden, or general assemblies, the 
people kept the government in their own hands ; but the gen- 
eral tendency of the Cantons was toward oligarchical rule. A 
few families monopolized all the rights and privileges of citi- 

1 In Bern and "in Luzern, Freiburg and Solothurn, certain families had 
obtained permanent rule, to the exclusion from power of the mass of the peo- 
ple. These four were the aristocratic Cantons. Zurich, Basel, and Schaff- 
hausen were semi-aristocratic, the burghers having a share in the elections, 
from which the country people were excluded. The remaining six states out 
of the thirteen then forming the Confederation were democratic, ruling them- 
selves in the Landsgemeinden." — Adams and Cunningham's "Swiss Confed- 
eration," p. 11. 

249 



250 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS 



zenship, controlled public offices, and froAvned upon all demo- 
cratic movements and opinions. Among these families there 
was much elegance of living and a keen appreciation of liter- 
ary and intellectual pursuits; but popular education was dis- 
couraged, and the peasants remained ignorant, unenlightened, 
and apathetic. Hence, the Confederation grew weaker rather 
than stronger, and its condition in the eighteenth century has 
been aptly likened to that of a " weather-beaten ruin, ready to 
fall."i 

It wg,s well, then, that the echoes of the French Revolution 
found their way across the Alps, and awakened a feeling for 
liberty among the oppressed Swiss peasantry. Not, indeed, 
that this awakening was due solely to the uprising of the 
French in 1789. As early as 1762 a small number of zealous 
Swiss patriots founded the Helvetic Society, whose aim was to 
heal religious dissension and to bring all parts of Switzerland 
into closer and more friendly relations with each other. By 
the efforts of this society a longing for union and independence 
was created in the minds of the Swiss people, and the French 
Revolution found the country open to the spread of liberal 
ideas. In 1790 the Helvetian Club was formed at Paris by a 
few Swiss who were living in exile there; and through its 
activity the peasantry in tlie western part of the Confederation 
were led to rise against their rulers. At first not very much 
was accomplished by these insurrections, for the aristocratic 
governments were usually strong enough to hold the people in 
subjection by armed force. But after a time the attention of 
the French Directory was attracted by these revolutionary 
movements, and French troops were sent into the Cantons 
to further the cause of popular liberty. Although fiercely 
opposed, the French bore down all opposition, and with their 
triumph the ancient Swiss Confederation came to an end. It 
had never attained to constitutional strength and dignity; for 
while it lasted there had never been a federal Constitution, 
and the Cantons had been bound by no stronger tie than that 
of the alliances they had formed among themselves. Nor did 
the Diet, its central governing body, possess those powers 
which command respect and win obedience. The downfall of 
the Confederation, then, was not a misfortune. The organiza- 
1 Dandliker's " Short History of Switzerland," p. 193. 



SWITZERLAND 251 



tion had outlived its usefulness and was fittingly set aside for 
a more perfect union. 

But perfect union did not at once rise from its ruins. In its 
place was established, through the influence of the Directory, 
the Helvetic Republic, which was accepted by ten of the thir- 
teen members of the old Confederation, a Constitution being 
adopted at the same time. But the new scheme of government 
proved to be a faulty one. If the Confederation had left too 
much power to the individual Cantons, the Republic erred in 
taking their sovereignty away. More and more unpopular did 
the government grow, as the Cantons realized how much their 
freedom had been curtailed; and the French, who had been 
welcomed as liberators, were soon denounced as tyrants. For 
the Directory controlled the government of the Republic; and 
its soldiers even put down by force all rebellious movements 
on the part of the Cantons. 

It was with relief, therefore, that the Swiss people learned 
of the overthrow of the Directory and of the establishment of 
the Consulate, with Napoleon at its head. No longer sup- 
ported by French bayonets, the Helvetic Government found 
difficulty in maintaining itself; and when Bonaparte withdrew 
the French troops from Swiss territory, in 1802, its downfall 
seemed near at hand. It was not indeed without friends. A 
considerable portion of the people, who were in favor of a 
strong central government, and who were termed the "unitary 
party " because they were devoted to the cause of national 
union, upheld the Republic. But the Federalists, who believed 
above all things in Cantonal independence, proved stronger 
than the Unitarians and began to drive the Government to 
the wall. To quiet these dissensions Bonaparte summoned a 
number of the political leaders of the country to a conference 
at Paris ; and, after considering with them the difficulties of 
the existing situation, he laid before them an Act of Media- 
tion which he had himself in great measure composed, and 
which he thought adapted to the existing needs of the Swiss 
people. 

But Bonaparte was too selfish to consider chiefly and solely 
the interests of the Cantons. The Act of Mediation performed 
an important vise; for under the Government which it estab- 
lished the country enjoyed eleven years of peace and was 



252 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

largely freed from political dissensions. But it was a compro- 
mise between new and old ideas of government rather than a 
scientific attempt to solve difficult constitutional questions 
and secure national union and progress. Moreover, the Act 
of Mediation gave France a strong hold upon the Cantons, 
Bonaparte being determined to profit as much as possible from 
the troubles and weaknesses of the Swiss people. The im- 
portant features of the Act were that six new Cantons were 
added to the thirteen old ones ; the Diet, whose delegates did 
not express the will of the people, but were directed and con- 
trolled by the Cantonal Governments, was reestablished; all 
who refused to obey the decisions of the Diet were to suffer 
penalty; Freiburg (Freibourg), Bern (Berne), Solothurn 
(Soleure), Basel, Zurich, and Luzern (Lucerne) were consti- 
tuted capital seats of Government, and the Diet was required 
to meet in each of these Cantons for a year in due order of 
rotation; the mayor of the Canton in which the Diet held its 
sittings was by virtue of his office made Landamman, or chief 
executive, of the Government; subject lands ^ and all privi- 
leges of family, birth, or nobility were abolished, though the 
rights of the people and liberty of the press were not secured; 
popular assemblies were restored in the democratic Cantons, 
but in the others the Government was preserved to the aris- 
tocracy and a property qualification was required both of 
voters and candidates. 

Even from this meagre outline it may be seen that the Act 
of Mediation was what its name implied. It was a middle 
course, an attempt to conciliate elements that could not be 
harmoniously blended. Disintegration was prevented, but 
union was not secured; obedience to the Diet was exacted, 
but the central Government did not receive adequate powers ; 
aristocracy was rebuked, but the principles of democracy were 
not fairly recognized. Hence, in spite of its many excellent 
features, the Act of Mediation did not outlast Napoleon's own 
period of supremacy. Soon after his defeat at Leipsic the 

1 The subject lands, which caused much dispute and angry feeling among 
the Cantons until they were abolished by the Congress of Vienna, were ac- 
quired in the period when boundaries were not definitely settled and the 
stronger Cantons were endeavoring to enlarge their territory by conquest. 
Bern, in particular, greatly extended its domains in this way. Consult 
Freeman's "Historical Geography of Europe," p. 281. 



SWITZERLAND 253 



forces of the allies crossed the Swiss frontier, and, largely 
through Austrian influence, the Diet was induced to abolish 
the Act of Mediation just before the end of December, 1813. 
But now the old differences showed themselves afresh. The 
friends and the enemies of a strongly centralized government 
quarrelled fiercely, and a considerable party desired to do away 
with the six newly constituted Cantons and entirely restore 
the old order of things. Accordingly, the Congress of Vienna 
was obliged to settle some of the disputed questions and make 
such territorial changes as seemed necessary. It recognized 
the independence and neutrality of Switzerland on condition 
that the new Cantons should be maintained; and, on March 20, 
1815, it raised the total number of the Cantons to twenty-two, 
by adding to those already existing Wallis (the Valais), which 
from mediaeval times to 1798 had been a Republic in alliance 
with the Confederation; Neuenburg (ISTeuchatel), which, once 
subjecTt to Prussia, had been given to Marshal Berthier by 
Napoleon; and Genf (Geneve), which had been annexed to 
France in 1798, but was now independent. But the Valtelline 
district in the Ehsetian Alps, Chiavenna, a town which, for- 
merly belonging to the Grisons, was made a part of the Cis- 
alpine Republic in 1797, and Worms were assigned by the 
Congress to Austria; and Miilhausen, which was recognized 
as an independent ally of the Swiss Confederation by the Peace 
of Westphalia, but which sought incorporation with France 
in 1798 for commercial reasons, was not restored to the 
Cantons. 

While these territorial questions were being settled by the 
Congress of Vienna, the Diet of the Confederation sat at 
Zurich, and drew up a new Constitution which was termed the 
" Federal Pact." Approved by the Congress of Vienna, it was 
sworn to on August 7, 1815, by all the Cantons except Nidwald 
(Lower Unterwalden), which only accepted it under compul- 
sion. But the Federal Pact did not prove to be an improve- 
ment upon the Act of Mediation. It secured the sovereignty 
of the Cantons without strengthening the central authority, 
and thus made Switzerland into a loose confederation, the 
members of which acted in concert only in matters of foreign 
policy and to maintain order in the interior. Subject lands 
were not allowed, and no class of citizens was permitted 



254 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

to monopolize political rights; but free trade between the 
Cantons was not recognized, the rights of citizenship were 
not clearly defined, nor was it expressly stated that the peo- 
ple were at liberty to reside in whatever Canton they 
preferred. 

Naturally the country was restless and dissatisfied under 
such an imperfect bond of union. In 1819 the Helvetic Society 
formed itself into a political association, renounced all sympa- 
thy with aristocratic priiiciples, and devoted itself to the work 
of national reforms. Various scientific and patriotic organiza- 
tions also disseminated liberal ideas ; while the press espoused 
the cause of national unity and popular government. 

Thus the movement toward democracy and more perfect fed- 
eration grew increasingly strong, although it roused persistent 
and bitter opposition. The Cantons had been left free by the 
Federal Pact to shape their own Constitutions; and this free- 
dom had in many cases been used by the aristocracy to with- 
hold political privileges from the common people. Accordingly, 
the ruling class, which was centred in the cities, resisted in- 
novations, and the Catholic Church used its influence against 
political change. The Jesuits were particularly active in 
stifling reform movements and obstructing the free develop- 
ment of liberal ideas. But the tides that set toward progress 
could not be stemmed nor stayed. Largely through the work 
of the Helvetic Society the more progressive Cantons began to 
revise their Constitutions; and when the uprising in Paris 
occurred in 1830, this movement was greatly accelerated. The 
conflict between the Liberals and Conservatives was especially 
fierce at Zurich, where Dr. Ludwig Snell exerted a powerful 
influence in favor of reform. He advocated equal rights for 
all, the sovereignty of the people, and popular education; and 
so ably did he lead the party of progress that Zurich adopted 
a Constitution embodying his ideas. 

Elated by this triumph, the Liberals renewed their efforts 
all over Switzerland; and in most of the Cantons they carried 
through important constitutional changes, by which the liberty 
of the press, the right of assembly and the right of petition, 
free trade, and free choice of residence were guaranteed. 
Moreover, these changes were not considered final, but pro- 
vision was made that the Constitutions should be revised at 



SWITZERLAND 255 



stated intervals, in order that the growth of the people in 
liberal thought might find its due expression. 

But religious warfare was destined to interfere with politi- 
cal progress. Some of the most distinguished leaders of the 
liberal movement were sceptics and free-thinkers in religious 
matters; and the Catholic Church, accordingly, was hostile 
toward their schemes for national regeneration. Indeed, the 
Church exercised so strong a reactionary influence, that the 
feeling between the Catholics and Protestants in Switzerland 
was almost as bitter as it was in the period of the Reformation.^ 
Only a trivial cause was needed to bring about an open con- 
flict; and this cause was supplied, when, in 1840, the Radicals 
in Argau proved to be in a popular majority. Unwilling to 
be dominated by free-thinkers, the Clericals excited a revolt ; 
and when the revolt was suppressed, the Radicals retorted by 
voting to do away with the eight monasteries in the Canton. 
As this proceeding was in violation of the Pact of 1815, the 
seven Catholic Cantons — Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Luzern 
(Lucerne), Zug, Preiburg (Freibourg), and Wallis (Valais) — 
took alarm, and, in 1843, formed a league, called the Sonder- 
bund, for mutual protection and defence. As this bold move 
did not call forth any protest from the Diet, the Sonderbund 
became aggressive; and, in December, 1845, it declared itself 
ready to take, up arms in defence of the constitutional rights 
of the Cantons. But this resort to violence ended in disaster. 
Por the Radicals finally carried a sufficient number of Cantons 
to control the Diet; and, on July 20, 1847, that body pro- 
nounced the Sonderbund contrary to the Pederal Pact, and on 
the 3d of the following September it invited each Canton to 
expel the Jesuits. As this invitation met with no response, 
the Diet voted, on November 4, to carry out its decree by force 
of arms. From such an excited state of feeling a bloody war 
might easily. have resulted; but the genius of Dufour, who 
conducted the campaign for the Diet, soon brought resistance 
to an end with small loss of life. One after another the rebel- 
lious Cantons submitted to the authority of the Diet, till the 
whole country was pacified.* 

1 For the conflict between the Church and the State, consult A. Morin's 
" Pre'cis de rHistoire Politique de la Suisse," V. 149 et seq. 

2 For the excellent work done by Dufour, see Morin's " Precis," III. 26-42, 



286 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

But the period of war and dissension had taught its own 
lessons. The movement for reform had made so much head- 
way that the Cantons were determined to do away with tlie 
Pact of 1815, which was. so manifestly inadequate to the politi- 
cal needs of the country. Accordingly, a new Constitution was 
^irafted, by direction of the Diet, in 1848, and as it was ac- 
cepted in the summer of that year by fifteen and- a half Can- 
tons, it was proclaimed on September 12. Although it did 
not embody all the principles that were advocated by the Lib- 
erals of the country, it was a better instrument than any that 
had been composed before; and under the government which 
it established the country progressed quietly and peaceably 
for many years. Political strife did not disappear, but it was 
no longer characterized by the acrimony and violence that had 
formerly prevailed. There was now a general feeling that, 
although further changes were necessary, they would come of 
themselves in a slow and orderly way; and that neither the 
Radicals nor the Reactionaries needed to keep the whole coun- 
try disturbed by their heated and vehement controversies. 

Not until 1874, therefore, was the Constitution made over 
and improved; and even then its most important features were 
retained. The new document, which was accepted by 14 Can- 
tons against 7 and by a popular vote of 340, 199 against 198,013, 
was, indeed, the old one revised and amended as the experi- 
ences of twenty-five years suggested and made necessary. The 
rights of the people were now more securely guarded, and the 
powers of the central Government were somewhat increased. 
In other respects the new Constitution was like the old. It 
provided for two parliamentary bodies, a State Council and a 
National Council. The members of the first number forty-four, 
each Canton choosing two in whatever manner it may prefer. 
The members of the National Council are elected directly by 
the people, in the proportion of one representative for every 
20,000 inhabitants. The members of each Council are chosen 
for three years, and the suffrage belongs to all who have 
reached the age of twenty. But although the rights of citizen- 
ship are thus bestowed upon thoroughly democratic principles, 
the people have no voice in the choice of a chief executive. 
Por the two Houses have not only legislative, but also execu- 
tive, authority. Sitting together they compose the Federal 



SWITZERLAND 257 



Assembly; and upon this Assembly devolves the task of choos- 
ing a Federal Covmcil of seven members, and electing its Presi- 
dent and'Vice-President. These officials serve for one year 
only and are the chief magistrates of the country. They 
cannot be reelected for the ensuing year; but usually the Vice- 
President is chosen to succeed the outgoing President. But 
although the President is the head of the nation's executive 
department, his powers are sharply limited, and his responsi- 
bilities are fully shared by the Federal Council, which has 
more important functions than those of a Cabinet. It is 
expected to manage foreign affairs, maintain tranquillity and 
order throughout the country, administer the finances, prepare 
the budget, and render an account of receipts and expenditures. 
It also sends messages to the Assembly upon all subjects which 
it considers worthy of special attention. Intrusted with these 
grave duties, it is not allowed to become a mere party organ, 
for its members do not solely represent the majority in the 
Assembly. When, for example, the Liberals are in control of 
affairs. Conservatives and Clericals are found sitting in the 
Federal Council; and any member of the Council who proves 
to be able and efficient almost invariably retains his position 
for a number of years. 

Considering the character and extent of its responsibilities, 
the Council might with propriety be intrusted with the power 
to enforce the laws and compel obedience; but its ultimate 
authority is weak. Should any Canton adopt an unconstitu- 
tional measure, the Council could not compel it to revoke the 
measure by an armed force. It could go no farther than to 
quarter troops upon the refractory Canton and thus force it to 
submit to a heavy expense so long as its rebellious mood con- 
tinued. But this method of securing obedience usually proves 
effective. The Cantons prefer submission to a continuous 
financial drain. 

But the most notable and distinctive feature of the Swiss 
Constitution is the Referendum. This peculiar institution 
was known and practised in a rudimentary form before the old 
Swiss Confederation came to an end; for in some of the Can- 
tons which had no Landsgemeinden, or popular assemblies, the 
Governments consulted the people from time to time upon 
matters of importance. In 1831 the Canton of Saint Gallen 



258 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

(Saint Gall) formally adopted the Referendum in its Consti- 
tution, which declared that the sovereignty rested with the 
people, and every law, accordingly, was subject to their ap- 
proval. This local recognition of the people's rights became 
national in 1848, for the Federal Constitution, which was 
framed in that year, contained a provision which practically 
gave the people control over the matter of constitutional 
amendment. It was through this provision that the Constitu- 
tion of 1874 was submitted to the people and adopted by the 
vote already recorded; and one of the popular features of the 
new Constitution was, that it not only retained the Refer- 
endum, but enlarged its scope by extending it to ordinary 
laws as well as to constitutional revision. 

Thus the Referendum gained a fixed and apparently perma- 
nent place in the politics of the country; and the people 
acquired a large measure of control over their law-makers. 
Two forms of the institution are to be noticed, the optional 
and the compulsory. When the Referendum is optional, the 
people may pass judgment upon their Constitution or their 
laws, but their sanction is not required by statute. When the 
Referendum is compulsory, a law or a constitutional amend- 
ment is not legal until it has been submitted to the people and 
has obtained their approval. As regards the laws passed by 
the national parliament (the State Council and the National 
Council), the Referendum is optional. There is no constitu- 
tional requirement that such laws, to be valid, must be sub- 
mitted to the people for their approval; but if any national law 
gives dissatisfaction, either eight Cantons or 30,000 citizens 
by a written petition can demand that the people pass judg- 
ment upon it. And that this right is not a nominal one is 
shown by the recent history of the country. For, between the 
years 1874 and 1893, 19 laws out of 169 were voted on by the 
people through the exercise of the Optional Referendum, and 
of these 19, 13 were rejected. The people can also take the 
matter of constitutional revision into their own hands by a 
species of the Optional Referendum, which is termed the 
"Popular Initiative." For by a provision adopted in 1848 
and retained in 1874, the popular vote must be taken upon any 
constitutional change that is demanded in writing by 50,000 
voters. 



SWITZERLAND 259 



But when the Federal Assembly revises the Constitution, as 
it has the right to do, such revision must be submitted to the 
verdict of the people; or, in other words, the Referendum is 
compulsory. For the revision is not legal until it has been 
approved by a majority both of the voters and of the Cantons. 
Thus, the people themselves have a voice in all constitutional 
changes; while in the United States, whose national develop- 
ment has also come through the federative principle, it is the 
States alone that pass judgment upon constitutional amend- 
ments. For the amendments that are proposed by Congress 
are valid and become parts of the Constitution when they have 
been ratified by three-fourths of tlie States, either through 
their legislatvires or through specially called conventions. 

In the individual Cantons the Referendum is quite generally 
employed ; for the example that was set by Saint Gallen (Saint 
Gall) in 1831 was almost universally followed. After the new 
and more liberal Constitution was adopted, in 1848, the Cantons 
one by one altered their own Constitutions, at once making 
them more democratic and providing either for an Optional or 
a Compulsory Referendum. Accordingly, in some of the Can- 
tons all laws must be submitted to the people ; in others, the 
people can accept or reject any law by demanding the right to 
vote upon it. In Zurich the Compulsory Referendum has been 
adopted, and from the beginning of 1869 to August, 1893, the 
people ratified 97 and rejected 31 of the 128 laws passed by 
their legislature. 

The Referendum of Switzerland has attracted the attention 
of other nations, and has been generally considered an excel- 
lent means of submitting legislators to popular control. Even 
in the United States its introduction has been considered; but 
the size of the country makes such a cumbersome method of 
obtaining the direct vote of the people upon legislation prac- 
tically impossible. Moreover, there is grave reason to doubt 
whether the Referendum has been an unmixed blessing to 
Switzerland. It has its critics as well as its defenders, and 
that it may easily produce unfortunate results a little reflection 
will suffice to show. For when the people can indorse or reject 
laws at pleasure, legislators lose their sense of responsibility 
and either frame measures carelessly or allow their own con- 
victions to be governed by the dictates of the populace. It is 



260 THE TEUTONIC NATIONS book i 

worthy of note that a recent and exhaustive study of the 
Referendum does not take a wholly favorable view of the 
institution.^ 

From this study of Switzerland it would appear that the 
principle of federation has quieted political discussions and 
established a stable government; but it has hardly made a 
strong nation. That it has so far failed, however, does not 
afford legitimate ground for criticism. The Swiss Cantons 
desired national existence, but they have not aspired to 
national greatness. With its 3,000,000 people and its 16,000 
square miles of territory, Switzerland could not take its place 
among the foremost European powers or play a conspicuous 
part in European politics. In its weakness lies its strength. 
Unable to cope with the great military powers of Europe, it 
rests secure against attacks, because ' the great powers would 
not allow it to be invaded or despoiled. Accordingly, not 
being forced to maintain a standing army or to have a vigorous 
foreign policy, it finds its Constitution adequate to its needs. 
If the Government is lacking in executive authority, it is yet 
strong enough to secure to its citizens the privileges that 
belong to an enlightened democracy. 

1 " The Referendum in Switzerland," by Simon Deploige. An able discus- 
sion of the subject may be found in Mr. Lowell's " Governments and Parties 
in Continental Europe " ; and the same writer has criticised the institution in 
the International Journal of Ethics, 6: 51. A reply to this criticism is con- 
tained in the same volume of this journal, p. 509. In the Contemporary 
Review, 67 : 328, there is an article by Numa Droz which presents the merits 
and defects of the Referendum in a fair and temperate manner. 



BOOK II 

GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 



GEEAT BEITAIN 
CANADA 

NEWFOUNDLAND 
AUSTRALIA 

New South Wales 

Victoria 

South Australia 

Queensland 

Tasmania 

Western Australia 



NEW ZEALAND 
SOUTH AFRICA 

Cape Colony 
Natal 

The Transvaal 
The Orange Free 
State 



CHAPTER I 

CHARACTER OF GREAT BRITAIN'S POLITICAL PROGRESS. — HER 
HISTORY FROM 1800 TO THE DEATH OF GEORGE III. IN 
1820 

The political history of Great Britain has been a peculiar 
one. The Anglo-Saxon portion of her population, confined 
for the most part to England, has always possessed strong 
liberty-loving instincts, and has fiercely maintained its rights 
against the encroachments of king and nobles. Sometimes, 
indeed, the nobles have made common cause with the people 
in resisting the tyranny of the sovereign. Accordingly, the 
political progress of England presents a striking contrast to 
that of France. In France we see the people concentrate their 
resistance to oppression into a few awful years of blood and 
terror. In England the will of the people has made itself felt 
ever since Magna Charta, and the emancipation of the masses 
has been going on for seven hundred years. Slowly and reluc- 
tantly the English sovereigns have recognized the Commons 
as their masters. While continental Europe accepted the 
theory of the divine right of kings, England made the monarchs 
feel that they reigned by grace of their own subjects. As 
early as the thirteenth century the rude beginnings of a par- 
liament were made, and from that time on parliamentary gov- 
ernment in England grew in favor with the people. Little by 
little the rights of the king were curtailed and those of the 
Commons were increased, until at last it became a part of the 
unwritten constitution of the land that the sovereign was to 
have no will of his own in political affairs. 

But this same Anglo-Saxon people which has so fiercely 
asserted its own political freedom has not always shown re- 
spect for the rights of others. More than once have the Scotch 
and the Irish found the Saxon a hard master. It must be 

265 



266 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

admitted that the political progress of England was, to some 
extent, shared by Scotland and Ireland; for her representative 
institutions were extended into those countries. But these 
institutions did not put political power into the hands of the 
common people. Even in England the suffrage was so re- 
stricted that the people's representatives exj)ressed the will 
of the few rather than of the many ; yet none the less did the 
masses voice their opinions and influence the conduct of affairs. 
The great leaders of the House of Commons, like Pym, Pitt, 
and Charles James Fox', had no thought of defying and antago- 
nizing public opinion. Rather did they Avish to feel that their 
measures were an outgrowth of past experience and would 
command the support of the liberty-loving English nation. 
Thus, the rugged temper of the Anglo-Saxon commanded the 
respect of the lawmakers of the land. 

But in Scotland the common people had far less influence 
upon the aftairs of government, and in Ireland they had none 
at all. In their misty and mountainous country the Scotch 
lived in contented poverty, and, with true Gaelic loyalty, were 
more concerned with the fortunes of the House of Stuart than 
with the course of everyday events. Sharing the political 
destinies of England, and sharing also the English love of 
freedom, they fought under the English banner; and even 
while they retained their own religious spirit and their own 
independent ways of thought and life, they contributed to 
England's strength and greatness. But they were too few in 
numbers to command the serious attention of the House of 
Commons, and, excepting the rare occasions when devotion to 
religious dogma or to exiled prince drove them into rebellion, 
they remained quiet, peaceable, and law-abiding. In Ireland, 
however, there was continual unrest and turmoil. Represen- 
tative government meant nothing to the Irish peasantry. The 
peasants themselves were largely Catholics, and Catholics had 
no political rights whatever. So this despised and suffering 
class bore poverty, injustice, and persecution, only to find 
more awful misery if they rose to redress their wrongs (p. 301). 
For rebellion was always stamped out with sickening brutality. 
In 1782 a lame attempt was made to give the island the bene- 
fits of self-government, as its National Parliament, which was 
first established in 1613, was made independent of the British 



CHAP. I GREAT BRITAIN'S POLITICAL PROGRESS 267 

Parliament and allowed to control Irish affairs. But as Catho- 
lics could not vote, the Parliament did not truly represent the 
people ; and though it accomplished some good results, it did 
not reconcile the people to English rule. In 1798 occurred the 
formidable rebellion of the United Irishmen, a rebellion which 
was stamped out with terrible severity and which left the 
country pacified indeed, but bleeding, vindictive, and resent- 
ful. In the following year, through the skilful negotiations 
of Pitt, the union of Ireland with Great Britain was brought 
about, and the Dublin Parliament came to an end. 

Thus, the political history of Great Britain shows a lack of 
unity. It is a record of justice and injustice, of freedom and 
tyranny, of progress painfully accomplished and domineering 
instincts stubbornly retained. But the story with its lights 
and shadows is a wonderful and inspiring one. No other 
nation has through so many centuries done service to the 
cause of human freedom ; no other nation has spread the reign 
of justice and order over so many lands. For England has 
sent her teeming millions into regions near and far, into ice- 
bound tracts, sunny islands, tropical jungles, and mountainous 
wilds ; and wherever her flag has waved, lawlessness, violence, 
and tyranny have disappeared. And as her colonies have 
waxed great and powerful and have learned to manage their 
own affairs, they have adopted her free institutions and made 
their own contributions to political progress. 

But, in spite of the growth and expansion of six hundred 
years, the beginning of the nineteenth century did not find the 
English people prosperous and happy. The workingman in 
particular suffered many hardships. The middle classes were 
not devoid of political rights, but the day-laborer was treated 
almost like a chattel. He could not vote, he could not com- 
bine with his fellow-laborers to resist the grinding exactions 
of capital. His hours of labor were oppressively long, and 
his children had to begin work very young in order to keep 
from starvation. The law treated him with merciless severity. 
Larceny, poaching, and other petty crimes were punishable 
with death. But such were the jail accommodations that death 
was preferable to imprisonment. Brutality, uncleanliness, 
hunger, was the lot of prisoners. Vermin swarmed in the 
cells. Beds were not provided. There was no ventilation. 



268 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book n 

Fevers often raged among the prisoners and carried off large 
numbers. The bright spot in the poor man's existence was 
'the ample provision made for paupers. Indeed, relief was so 
liberally given that it encouraged idleness and inflicted an 
exorbitant poor-rate on the well-to-do. It was not necessary 
to enter the poorhouse. To those who could not or would not 
toil money was given in their own homes. 

Conscription was a terror to the lowly. The army was re- 
cruited by voluntary enlistment; but service in the militia 
was enforced, and the navy was supplied with seamen by the 
press-gangs. Many an unwary stroller was carried off in the 
night to spend weary years upon a British man-of-war. And 
the discipline both on shipboard and in the army was brutally 
severe. Men were flogged till they fainted. Five hundred 
lashes was no uncommon punishment, and death sometimes 
resulted from the torture. 

Education was for the rich and those in comfortable circum- 
stances. There was little public instruction. The children 
of the poor grew up in ignorance. Illiteracy was so com- 
mon that in some districts nearly half of the men and women 
could not write their own names. Contagious diseases caused 
widespread mortality. Smallpox was a scourge of the poor. 
The drainage was wretched both in city and country, and 
fevers stalked through the land. Sanitary legislation was a 
crying need, even though the death-rate was very slowly 
diminishing. 

Such was the condition of the poorer classes in England at 
the beginning of the century. In Scotland it was hardly 
better; ^ in Ireland it was even worse. Hence it was obvious 
that reforms were urgently needed in Great Britain as well as 
in the countries of continental Europe. But the masses were 
better off in Great Britain than they were in most other coun- 
tries in that they had a government that took cognizance of 
their wrongs. Not in vain had representative institutions been 
gaining ground for six centuries. While absolutism still held 
its own in many of the European monarchies, the English Par- 
liament stood ready to uphold the rights of the people. The 
House of Commons was not in close sympathy with the masses ; 

1 "A History of the Scotch Poor Law," by Sir George NichoUs, pp. 108- 
111: 117-119. 



CHAP. I GREAT BRITAIN'S POLITICAL PROGRESS 269 

the House of Lords not at all so. Yet the Commons was 
thoroughly possessed with the English love of liberty, and its 
temper, though conservative, was not opposed to progress. It 
had both the will and the power to correct abuses, and wherever 
abuses became unendurable, and were fully exposed, it showed 
itself ready to correct them. Hence, the political growth of 
England during the past hundred years has been orderly, 
though slow. It has not been characterized by great leaps and 
by repeated revolutions, but it has been the steady march of a 
liberty-loving people. The workingmen would fain have had 
their grievances righted more rapidly, and in their impatience 
they have sometimes resorted to violence. But the violence 
has been easily suppressed, and relief legislation has brought 
one abuse after another to an end. 

But not in the opening years of the century did the great 
work of reform begin. William Pitt was at this time Prime 
Minister, — a post he had held since 1783, — and, after bring- 
ing the country into a distressing and seemingly a needless ^ 
war with France, he had seen his efforts to thwart Napoleon 
end in humiliating failures. Anxious, alert, and taxed to its 
full resources, the nation was in no mood to think of internal 
improvements. Nor did its King give the smallest encourage- 
ment to progress. Upon the throne sat the honest but incapa- 
ble and bigoted George III., who opposed all liberal measures, 
and who had not learned that the sovereignty belonged to the 
people. He resisted his ministers when he considered their 
policy highly objectionable, and they made no attempt to coerce 
him. In 1801 Pitt was forced to resign because George would 
not countenance his scheme for giving the Catholics political 
equality. It was evident, therefore, that the times were not 
yet ripe for reform legislation. An arbitrary king and a 
drastic war were for some time to prevent the redress of wrongs. 
Pitt was succeeded by Addington, an incapable and narrow 
man, who had none of the qualities necessary to make a suc- 
cessful Prime Minister. His one notable achievement was to 
establish peace with France, in 1802. A respite from war was 
welcome, but the respite proved a very brief one. Napoleon 
was insolent and aggressive, and showed that he had no inten- 
tion of living up to the treaty of peace. So England refused 
1 Goldwin Smith's " Three English Statesmen," p. 201 et seq. 



270 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

to give up Malta, as she had agreed to do, and the war began 
once more. 

On the eve of a bitter conflict the nation required the 
strongest guidance. Addington inspired no confidence and 
gave way to Pitt. In the few years that remained to him Pitt 
did all that he could to crush Napoleon. The French naval 
power was effectually broken at Trafalgar, in 1805; but the 
battle of Austerlitz, in December of the same year, showed 
that the victor of Marengo was as invincible as ever. Pitt 
was saddened and humiliated by the news of this disaster, 
and did not long survive it. His death forced George III., 
much against his will, to make Charles James Fox Prime 
Minister; for Fox was now the foremost statesman of Eng- 
land. His ministry was designated "All the Talents," as his 
Cabinet, instead of representing the principles of a dominant 
party, was made up from the most eminent statesmen and 
politicians of the time. But its existence was short-lived, and 
it accomplished little besides passing measures to abolish the 
slave-trade. It was weakened by the death of Fox, who died 
in September, 1806; for his successor, Lord Grenville, was an 
extremely conscientious, rather than an able or brilliant man. 
He roused the King's anger by proposing that Catholics 
should be allowed to serve in the army and the navy; and the 
people shared the feeling of their narrow-minded King. The 
country was not yet ready for religious toleration. It was dom- 
inated by Tory sentiment, which was strongly anti-Catholic. 

The ministry of All the Talents, accordingly, came to an end 
in March, 1807, and was succeeeded by one formed under the 
nominal headship of the Duke of Portland. It was a Tory 
ministry, and its leading member was George Canning, at that 
time the most brilliant figure of the Tory party. He took the 
post of Foreign Secretary, and he devoted himself to a vigorous 
prosecution of the war with France. For the war was growing 
into vast proportions and assuming an alarming character. 
Unable to invade and conquer England, Napoleon struck at her 
commerce. On November 21, 1806, he issued the Berlin 
decree, which declared the British Islands in a state of block- 
ade; prohibited all commerce or communication with them; 
pronounced all English wares found in the territory of France, 
or in that of her allies, liable to seizure ; and closed French 



CHAP. I GREAT BRITAIN'S POLITICAL PROGRESS 271 



ports, not only against British vessels, but against all ships 
that had touched at a British port. This tyrannical manifesto 
had drawn forth from Lord Grenville an Order in Council, 
issued January 7, 1807. It forbade neutral vessels to enter 
the ports of France or of her allies under penalty of seizure 
and confiscation. 

This act of retaliation worked injury to France, but it did 
not give British merchants the protection they craved. For 
the carrying trade of the world had begun to pass under Ameri- 
can control. A still more vigorous measure was necessary; 
and Canning, after coming into office, did not shrink from the 
requirements of the situation, for he was determined to pre- 
serve England's carrying trade at any cost. On November 11, 
1807, he issued a second Order in Council, by which the har- 
bors of France and of her allies and of every Continental state 
from which the English flag was excluded were put in a state 
of blockade ; and all vessels bound to them were declared liable 
to seizure unless they had visited a British port. To these 
orders Napoleon replied by the Milan decree of December 17, 
1807, in which he declared that all vessels having any inter- 
course whatever with Great Britain or her Colonies could not 
be regarded as neutral and were liable to seizure. 

The "Continental System," as this scheme to annihilate 
England's commerce was termed, did not continue long. It 
was too arbitrary and unnatural to endure ; but while it lasted 
it struck at the poorer classes by greatly increasing the price 
of imports, and caused suffering and discontent. The Orders 
in Council did keep America from acquiring the carrying trade 
of England; but in the end they brought on the foolish and 
unnecessary War of 1812. 

Canning's vigorous foreign policy greatly interfered with 
Napoleon's plans. It was he who advocated the British inva- 
sion of Spain, which did much to undermine the French 
Emperor's power. But Canning retired from office in 1809 
in consequence of a foolish duel, which for a time placed him 
under a cloud. The nation missed his brilliant services ; but 
they were not needed to bring, about Napoleon's downfall. 
England prosecuted the war with France with vigor. She 
abandoned Pitt's policy of merely forming coalitions of the 
Continental countries against France and supplying them with 



272 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

money. Already had Canning suggested a more aggressive 
course; and his ideas were carried out. English armies took 
the field, and England furnished the general who was able to 
cope with Napoleon himself. Wellington again and again 
defeated the French armies in Spain ; and to him must always 
belong the real glory of the victory at Waterloo. 

The long war came to an end, and six months before its con- 
clusion the war with America was also terminated. On De- 
cember 24, 1814, was signed a treaty of peace between England 
and the United States. The three years' struggle had not 
settled all the questions on which the two countries were at 
issue ; but it had at least given England increased respect for 
the enterprise and courage of the young nation across the sea. 
It was not likely that British men-of-war would in future im- 
press American seamen ; nor could the conditions which called 
forth the irritating Orders in Council again arise. The mother- 
country and the republic which had sprung from her settled 
their differences from this time on by arbitration ; and that 
they will always do so seems reasonably certain. 

It was time that peace should come, for the years of war had 
brought England much suffering. Her debt had risen above 
$4,000,000,000; her working-classes had undergone great 
hardships. Wages had indeed been high during the war, but 
their purchasing power had diminished. The prices of food 
and clothing were very high. Bread, sugar, and tea were 
heavily taxed. The tax on malt drove the people to drink 
spirits. The tax on windows resulted in dark houses that 
were a serious detriment to health. Salt was taxed forty 
times its value; and paper was taxed from a penny and a half 
to threepence a pound. Sometimes nearly half of the poor 
man's earnings went to the Government through direct and 
indirect taxation. 

And in addition to these evils the British workingmen were 
beginning to suffer through the introduction of machinery. 
Such suffering is always temporary. Mechanical contrivances 
that multiply the power of labor help no one more than the 
artisans. But, as hand labor is superseded by machinery, 
those who have supported themselves by the older method are 
for the time being thrown out of employment. And so it was 
in England in the early years of the century. The power loom 



CHAP. I GREAT BRITAIN'S POLITICAL PROGRESS 273 

was supplanting the hand loom. Cloth of all kinds was begin- 
ning to be manufactured by machinery, and the hand weavers 
and spinners found their occupation gone. They were reduced 
to poverty and even to starvation. Their misery engendered 
a spirit of rebellion. They begged help from Parliament. 
They demanded that the use of the new frames for cloth manu- 
facture be restricted by law. Sometimes they broke into the 
factories and destroyed the machinery to which they attributed 
their wrongs. To those who adopted these violent and riotous 
methods was given the name of Luddites, because an idiot 
named Ned Lud had once broken some frames in a fit of pas- 
sion. These misguided artisans organized themselves into 
bands and did their destructive work with surprising method 
and thoroughness. Before entering a building known to con- 
tain cloth-making frames, they stationed sentinels around it 
to give the alarm. Then they rapidly demolished the obnox- 
ious frames, and usually had disappeared before the police or 
military arrived to arrest them. Their demonstrations were 
first made toward the end of the year 1811. Continuing and 
increasing during the following year, they were met by repres- 
sive laws of a very rigorous character. It was in opposing 
these laws that Lord Byron made his maiden speech before the 
House of Lords, in 1812. The severe punishments enacted 
against the frame-breakers checked their depredations for a 
time. But the Luddites grew active again in 1816, as a ter- 
rible season of depression followed the close of the long war 
with France. 

Such outbreaks were sure to be remedied in time by the 
revival of prosperity. But to bring about such a revival the 
efforts of Parliament were necessary, and many laws needed 
to be changed and modified. For legislation was shaped in 
the interest of the landowners. It was the men who owned 
the land that made the laws; and they were determined that, 
whatever else happened, their own rentals should not be les- 
sened. A very oppressive corn law was passed in 1815, which 
kept foreign wheat out of the country and made the price of 
domestic wheat exceedingly high. Thus the farmers and the 
landowners grew rich, while the poor found even their daily 
bread a luxury. 

But the landowners could not go on indefinitely making 



274 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

laws for the benefit of their own class. It is the fundauaental 
principle of representative government that the voice of the 
nation must be heard and obeyed. The wrongs and wretched- 
ness of the English people were now beginning to find expres- 
sion. Peace encouraged the discontented to make known their 
grievances. The era of reform was close at hand. 

But before the reforms which have come in such rapid suc- 
cession through the century are considered, the conditions 
under which they were brought about should be thoroughly 
understood. For they have not come without fierce resistance. 
The English temper is naturally conservative; it is rendered 
more so by self-interest. The conflict between liberal princi- 
ples and traditional belief in England is one of the most inter- 
esting features in the history of the nineteenth century. In 
studying this conflict the following facts should be borne in 
mind : — 

I. England is a democratic country with aristocratic insti- 
tutions. It is democratic, because the will of the people ulti- 
mately triumphs. Its institutions are aristocratic, because the 
whole English social order is founded upon privilege. The 
sovereign is no longer endowed with any considerable degree 
of authority, but has enormous power as the social head of the 
realm. Below the royal family is the nobility, with its vary- 
ing degrees of rank and importance according to title and 
antiquity. Below the nobility is the gentry class, which 
prides itself upon the fact that it does not work for a sub- 
sistence. Below the gentry is the class of professional men. 
Below them is the middle class, showing various degrees of 
cultivation and refinement. And lowest of all are the work- 
ingmen. But besides these distinctions are those introduced 
by the Church of England. For the Established Church has 
commanded the allegiance of the cultivated classes, and those 
who remain outside its fold can receive little social recognition. 
Moreover, it dominates the two great historic universities, 
Oxford and Cambridge. Thus, the aristocracy of the nation 
and a powerful Church were arrayed on the side of privilege. 

II. There have been two leading political parties in England 
almost from the establishment of Parliament. In the latter 
part of the seventeenth century the two parties received the 
respective names of Whig and Tory; the former representing 



CHAP.. I GREAT BRITAIN'S POLITICAL PROGRESS 275 

the country, and the latter the court. These names were kept 
till 1830, when they were rei^laced by those of Liberal and 
Conservative. But the term " Whig " was still applied to the 
more moderate and conservative Liberals. Of these two 
parties the Conservative has by far the greater social advan- 
tage. The nobility, the Church of England, and the gentry 
give it their support. Representing privilege, it clings to the 
established order of things; and up to the closing decades of 
the century it resisted progressive legislation. It is especially 
pleased with a vigorous foreign policy. In time of war, it 
usually comes to the front and evinces a fervent, though some- 
what narrow, patriotism. 

The Liberal party draws its strength from the Dissenters, 
and from the thoughtful minds among all classes in the nation. 
Its members do not work in entire harmony, for its radical 
element holds advanced views which the moderate Liberals do 
not share. Yet to its efforts is due most of the reform legisla- 
tion of the century. It is always in conflict with the Con- 
servative party; and the result is progress. 

III. Since the time of George III. the sovereigns of Eng- 
land have exercised no direct influence upon legislation, but 
have acted as constitutional monarchs. No more does the 
House of Lords attempt to dictate to the people. What the 
nation imperatively demands, the Lords concede. Thus, both 
the sovereigns and the peers of this highly aristocratic nation 
have recognized the fundamental principles of democracy. 
They have recognized these principles because of the strenu- 
ous teachings of seven hundred years. 

IV. The English statesmen of the nineteenth century have 
been powerful allies to the cause of progress. Under their 
leadership the nation could not help moving forward. Pitt 
and Fox belong rather to the eighteenth century than the 
nineteenth. But Canning, Grey, Peel, Russell, Shaftesbury, 
Bright, and Gladstone have exercised a mighty influence in 
favor of liberal measures. No nation ever produced a nobler 
or more gifted body of statesmen. Their voices have been 
lifted up, not merely for country, but for humanity. Guizot, 
Thiers, and Gambetta lacked the moral elevation of these 
great Englishmen. 

V. Domestic progress is sometimes interrupted by war. 



276 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

In spite of her advanced civilization, England has become 
embroiled with petty powers several times during the cen- 
tury, and once or twice her strength has been taxed by a 
serious conflict; and when war comes domestic legislation is 
usually superseded. For a time the fortunes of battle absorb 
the attention of the nation. But when peace is established, 
the din of conflict is forgotten and the cause of domestic reform 
once more makes headway. 

It took England some years to rally from the long war with 
France and to give to internal affairs the attention they de 
manded. After peace was made in 1815, there was for a time 
general stagnation in trade and business. Industries were 
greatly affected by the depression. Factories were closed, 
the foundries ceased working, and the demand for coal was 
greatly lessened. The workingmen found it difficult to obtain 
employment and became discontented and clamorous for help. 
In 1819 a vast army of reformers, whose number has been 
variously estimated at from 60,000 to 100,000, met at Man- 
chester to voice their grievances. While this immense body 
of people was listening to one of its spokesmen, il was charged 
by the cavalry, and in the crush that ensued two persons were 
killed and more than six hundred wounded. But such signifi- 
cant demonstrations as this brought no measures of relief 
during the reign of George III. 



CHAPTER II 

GEORGE IV. — WILLIAM IV 

During the last few years of his life George III. was blind 
and insane, and the Prince of Wales was made regent in 1811. 
Upon his father's death, in 1820, he succeeded to the throne 
under the title of George IV. Good-natured, but utterly frivo- 
lous, he has been aptly spoken of by Thackeray as " nothing 
but a coat and a wig and a mask smiling below it — nothing 
but a great simulacrum. ... I look through all his life and 
recognize but a bow and a grin. . . . We cannot get at the 
character; no doubt never shalL" Naturally he was no friend 
of progress, but the growing energies of the nation made reform 
imperative. England's policy both at home and abroad now 
began to grow more liberal and humane. In 1824 some of the 
most severe restrictions upon the artisan class were removed. 
Laborers were enabled to go whither they pleased and get the 
highest possible remuneration for their services. The exporta- 
tion of machinery was allowed. And workingmen were no 
longer forbidden to combine for securing higher wages and 
shorter hours of labor. Perhaps this last privilege would not 
have been granted if its full significance had been understood. 
By allowing combinations the law made trade-unions possible, 
with all their attendant benefits and evils. 

It was in the reign of George IV. that Canning again became 
a Cabinet minister, and, after long years of waiting, found a 
suitable opportunity of exercising his brilliant talents. He 
was made Foreign Secretary, in 1822, under Lord Liverpool; 
and his vigorous character and his liberal sympathies were 
soon felt in European diplomacy. He was an uncompromising 
foe of the Holy Alliance; he believed that feeble and strug- 
gling nations should not be suppressed by despotic govern- 
ments; and he desired that England's vast power and wealth 

277 



278 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

should help civilization onward all over the world. When the 
Holy Alliance planned to crush the revolution in Spain, in 
1822, Canning uttered a vigorous protest. On this occasion 
his efforts were unavailing; but, in 1825, he caused England 
to recognize the independence of the rebellious South Ameri- 
can States which the Alliance wished to bring into submission 
to Spain. In 1826 he sent troops to Portugal to maintain the 
legitimate constitutional government. And throughout his 
administration of foreign affairs he gave encouragement to 
Greece in her war of liberation from the Turk. Unhappily he 
did not live to see her independence established by the battle 
of Navarino, on October 20, 1827. He died on August 6 of 
that year, about three months after he had succeeded Lord 
Liverpool as head of the Cabinet. His office of Prime Minis- 
ter fell to the Duke of Wellington, whose hard and narrow 
mind led him to disapprove of Canning's conduct of affairs. 
But Canning had given to England's foreign policy a character 
which could not be forgotten. Although counted a Tory, he 
was no true representative of Tory principles. Gladstone, not 
Palmerston^ or Beaconsfield, was his legitimate successor. 

Although Wellington was a consistent opponent of reform, 
he could not resist the liberal tendencies of his time. In 1828 
the Protestants and Catholics of the realm found relief in the 
repeal of the Test Act. Henceforth it was not necessary to 
repudiate the doctrine of transubstantiation or to take the 
sacrament from the Church of England in order to hold office 
under the Crown. But Catholics were still barred from sit- 
ting in the House of Commons; and this disability was re- 
moved, in 1829, by the Eoman Catholic Belief Bill. Catholic 
emancipation had, indeed, long found advocates among the 
liberal statesmen of England. The efforts of Pitt and Gren- 
ville in its behalf have been recorded. Canning had exerted 
all his eloquence in favor of it in 1812; and had his career as 
Prime Minister lasted longer, he would doubtless have secured 
its accomplishment. Wellington and Peel were now the lead- 
ing statesmen; and they were both heartily opposed to the 
emancipation, as was also the King. But when Daniel 

1 Palmerston was a Liberal and sympathized with all peoples that struggled 
for independence. But in his foreign policy he aimed, like the Tories, to 
defend British interests at any cost. 



WILLIAM IV 279 



O'Connell was elected to a vacant Irish seat in Parliament 
from the county of Clare, they saw that the Catholics could 
no longer be deprived of political freedom. Eor all Catholic 
Ireland stood behind O'Connell, and the liberal minds of Eng- 
land sympathized with him in his struggle. The King aban- 
doned his scruples, under Wellington's forcible suggestions, 
and signed the bill. 

Not long after this George IV. died, unregretted by the 
nation, and was succeeded by his brother William, in June, 
1830. William was a rough, unpolished man, obstinate, like 
all the Georges, but right-minded and sensible. His loyalty 
to the Constitution was soon put to the test, as the burning 
question of electoral reform was now before the nation and 
was demanding a speedy settlement. It was, indeed, a mo- 
mentous question which the King and the Parliament were 
thus required to face. England had long recognized the fun- 
damental principles of democracy. Her sovereigns ruled 
simply by the consent of their subjects, and one king had 
been beheaded and another dethroned for opposing the popu- 
lar will. Even the royal power of vetoing legislation had 
become unconstitutional, and not since the time of Queen 
Anne had an English sovereign returned a bill to Parliament 
with the polite formula of disapproval : Le Roi s'avisera. But 
if democracy — the sway of the people — had become estab- 
lished, if the king was only the servant of his subjects, why 
should not all of the people have a voice in the government? 
Why should not suffrage, which alone makes a man truly a 
citizen, be gradually extended to all? 

Logically there would seem to be but one answer to these 
questions, and that answer is — universal suffrage. If the 
rule belongs to the people, it should belong to all the people 
and not to a privileged few. Either the throne or the demos 
is the seat of power. There can be no logical warrant for 
stripping royalty of its prerogatives and bestowing those same 
prerogatives upon a select and favored class. Such would 
seem to be a fair presentation of the question of popular sov- 
ereignty, and yet this view is not as sound as at first sight it 
appears. Eor if all great historic movements have a logical 
outcome, that outcome cannot always be determined by exact 
reasoning and philosophic theory. The passions, the preju- 



280 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book n 

dices, and the time-honored customs of men are powerful fac- 
tors in shaping the currents of history; and a mighty human 
tendency will not produce the same results in every age and 
among every people. 

No doubt the world has been moving toward "government 
of the people, by the people, and for the people " ever since 
the demos became all-powerful at Athens more than twenty 
centuries ago. But the movement has not been an unbroken 
and an uninterrupted one; sometimes all traces of it seemed 
to disappear. And as it has gathered strength, it has taken 
manifold forms in different lands. In a country where the 
spirit of caste and privilege have sway, it cannot establish 
a true democracy. Hence, there are many legitimate stop- 
ping-places between Oriental despotism and free republican 
institutions. 

Now it must be borne in mind that England is " a demo- 
cratic country with aristocratic institutions" (p. 274). For 
more than a thousand years the English have been accustomed 
to look up to a titled class and to bow before court etiquette 
and strictly defined social distinctions. This people, one of 
the proudest, the sturdiest, and the freest in the world, is yet 
tinged with the spirit of subserviency. Deference to superiors 
is ingrained in the English nature. Every one but the sov- 
ereign himself has some one to whom he pays social homage. 
And this spirit of deference and subserviency is in the very 
fibre of the English Constitution. Taking shape gradually 
through many centuries, the Constitution has recognized the 
vital traits of the English character, as they have revealed 
themselves in innumerable usages, custoius, and traditions. 
In short, the Constitution, even while recognizing the people 
through their representatives as supreme, yet exalts the few 
above the many and is moulded by the distinctions of title, 
landed proprietorship, and social privilege. It is designed 
to place the power in the hands of a favored class, who, by 
reason of their superior advantages and their ownership of 
the land, are constituted the social and political leaders of the 
realm. 

Now, this being the character of the Constitution and of the 
English social order, the question of extending the suffrage 
was a grave and tremendous one. How grave it was, the 



WILLIAM IV 281 



Duke of Wellington and the leaders of the Tory party well 
appreciated, and by every legitimate means they opposed the 
effort to increase the number of voters in the kingdom. For 
they saw in this attempt an assault upon the fundamental 
character of the Constitution. They saw that it would end in 
making Great Britain a democracy pure and simple, instead of 
a country of privilege ; and upon democracy they looked with 
abhorrence. And it is probable, indeed, that this abhorrence 
would have been intensified if they could have foreseen all 
the results that have followed from the passage of the Electoral 
Reform Bill of 1832. For, after the franchise had once been 
extended, it was made more and more inclusive, until uni- 
versal suffrage was plainly near at hand. And with the 
extension of the franchise the partisans of democracy have 
clamored for radical and sweeping changes which would, if 
effected, fundamentally change the character of British gov- 
ernment and British society. For if royalty should be swept 
aside, the House of Lords abolished, primogeniture brought 
to an end, and government pass into the hands of the profes- 
sional politician, the Great Britain of Chatham, Burke, Peel, 
yes, and of Gladstone also, would utterly pass away. With 
the triumph of democracy would come the ascendency of the 
common people instead of the leadership of the few. 

All this should be remembered in justice to the Duke of 
Welliagton and those who followed his lead in this great 
national crisis. He is usually thought to have headed a fac- 
tious opposition and to have shown unpardonable narrowness 
in resisting what was imperatively demanded by the nation at 
large. But the " Iron Duke " ably defended his own position 
and showed very clearly that, restricted as the suffrage was, it 
was yet so bestowed as to reach more or less directly every 
class in the kingdom.^ That its exercise was attended with 
grave abuses could not be denied, and those abuses the duke 
would have helped to do away with; but to remove abuses by 
the introduction of what he considered other and far graver 
abuses roused his bitter and indignant opposition. 

But whether the Duke of Wellington was right or wrong 
theoretically, his position was certainly untenable. It was 
untenable simply because the vast majority of the English 

1 Fortnightly Review, 68 : 539. 



282 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER C(1L0NIES book n 

people clamored for the changes which he so stubbornly 
resisted. Crying, indeed, were the abuses of tlie existing 
electoral system. The members of the House of Commons 
'obtained their seats largely through influence, favor, and 
bribery. Two thirds of them were appointed by peers or other 
influential persons. Some seats were openly offered for sale. 
Great cities like Manchester and Birmingham were entirely 
unrepresented. Many rotten boroughs existed, in which there 
was nothing that could fairly be termed an election. It was 
estimated that 300 seats were under the control of 160 persons. 
In Scotland the county votes did not number all told more 
than 2000; while the members from the cities were appointed 
by an electoral body which was chosen by the town council 
and allowed to name its successors. 

To obviate these abuses an Electoral Keform Bill was 
brought before the Commons, in 1831, by Lord John Russell. 
This eminent English statesman had already identified him- 
self with the cause of reform by his efforts in favor of Catholic 
emancipation. It was largely through his exertions that the 
Test Act was repealed and the Relief Bill passed. His liberal 
sympathies often placed him on the side of progress, and his 
long parliamentary career was honorable and distinguished. 
To the cause of electoral reform he gave his most enthusiastic 
support in the Lower House, as did Earl Grey, the head of the 
ministry, in the House of Lords. The provisions of the 
Reform Bill were very moderate. The representation of 
the rotten boroughs was to be taken away from them and 
given to cities; the property qualification was to be dimin- 
ished so as to give the franchise to the well-to-do middle class; 
but the right to vote was still withheld from the poor. But, 
moderate though the bill was, it was rejected ^ by the Com- 
mons. Thereupon Lord Grey resigned, and Parliament was 
dissolved. The elections returned a majority in favor of 
reform. Lord Grey again assumed office; Lord Russell's bill 
was passed by the House of Commons on September 21, 1831. 
Rejected by the Lords, it was passed again by the Commons. 
The Lords rejected it a second time, and Lord Grey requested 

1 The bill passed to its second reading by a vote of 302 against 301. But a 
majority of one meant virtual defeat. Molesworth's "History of England," 
p. 65 (abridged edition). 



WILLIAM IV 283 



the King's permission to appoint a sufficient number of new 
peers to give the bill a majority in the Upper House. This 
permission the King refused, and the Ministry resigned. But 
Wellington, who was asked by the King to form a Cabinet, 
found his task impossible. Lord Grey once more assumed 
office with the right to appoint new peers. ^ But so radical a 
measure \^as not found necessary. The Lords recognized the 
uselessness of further resistance and passed the Keform Bill 
on June 7, 1832. 

This notable victory of the popular majority had a profound 
significance. It showed that public opinion was supreme in 
England in spite of the restricted character of the suffrage. 
Indeed, to a certain degree, it justified the opinion of the Duke 
of Wellington; for if the people could win so decided a tri- 
umph, even though few of them could vote, it might well be 
argued that they had the power to right their wrongs in their 
own hands. Their will might for a time be resisted by the 
conservative forces of the nation, but in the end they were 
sure to obtain what they persistently desired. So legislative 
reform, thus significantly inaugurated, was sure to go peace- 
ably forward until the manifold grievances of the people were 
one by one redressed. 

The path of reform, once entered, was for some time reso- 
lutely followed. But Lord Grey did not much longer continue 
in office. He was now nearly seventy years old. He had led 
the nation through an important crisis. He had been identi- 
fied with many good and noble causes ever since he had carried 
the bill for abolishing the slave-trade, in 1807. Not the least 
generous of his actions was his espousal of the cause of Queen 
Caroline when she was shamefully slandered by her husband, 
George IV. After his long and useful career the aged states- 
man felt that he had earned the right to spend his last years 
in quiet; and he retired from public life in 1834. Few 
Englishmen have earned a more honorable place in the 
annals of the nation. His dignity, resolution, and discre- 
tion brought about a momentous reform without causing a 
civil war, as rash leadership might have done. 

1 This right the King granted in a private interview with Lord Grey and 
Lord Brougham. But it was the latter who had the foresight and the courage 
to require the King to give his consent in writing over his own signature. 



284 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

But Lord Etissell and other liberal men remained in Parlia- 
ment to push reform measures forward. In 1834 outdoor 
relief to paupers was discontinued, and the workingmen made 
thereby more self-respecting and industrious. In 1835 was 
passed the Corporation Reform Act, which brought about a 
great improvement in the government of cities. Heretofore 
municipal affairs had been controlled by close corporations. 
The citizens of a town had no voice whatever in their own gov- 
ernment. By the act of 1835 all the rate-payers in English 
towns and cities were empowered to vote for municipal 
officers.^ In Scotland the franchise was limited to those 
who could vote in parliamentary elections.'' 

An admirable step toward diminishing ignorance was taken 
in 1836, when the tax of fourpence on newspapers was abol- 
ished. The news of the day could now penetrate the dwellings 
of the poor as well as those of the rich. In this same year the 
Dissenters were partially relieved from the unjust and trying 
exactions of the Established Church. The Church had kept 
absolute control over the services of marriage and of burial. 
But dissenting clergymen were now allowed to conduct the 
former ceremony, the latter was considered too solemn to be 
given into their hands. 

Another injustice from which Dissenters suffered was that 
of tithes. Those who were outside of the Established Church 
had to contribute to its support. By leaving the Church of 
England they lost many rights and privileges ; yet they had 
to help the very organization which took those rights and privi- 
leges from them. The tax was therefore an interference with 
religious freedom. Its abolition was proposed in 1836, but 
was not finally carried until 1838. The measure was weak- 
ened in its passage through Parliament; but the abuse was 
much modified, though not entirely removed. 

Almost from the beginning of the century the most humane 
members of Parliament had endeavored to mitigate England's 
severe penal code. Sir Samuel Romilly and Sir James Mack- 
intosh had been conspicuous in this work. The former had 

1 For the ultimate effects of this act consult Vine's " Municipal Institu- 
tions." 

2 For reforms in the Scotch municipal towns see W. Cory's " Guide to Mod- 
ern English History," II. 357. 



WILLIAM IV 285 



■ again and again introduced bills to reduce the number of 
capilal offences, which were more than two hundred. He 
accomplished little, however, as he had to fight against the 
Government, the bishops, and the eminent judges of his day. 
But the humane sentiments he uttered made their profound 
impression on the nation; and the work which he so nobly 
advocated went on after his death. The list of capital offences 
was greatly abridged, as one crime after another was stricken 
from it; till, finally, in 1837, it had been reduced from over 
two hundred to seven. 



CHAPTER III 

QUEEN victoria's REIGN TO THE DEATH OF LORD 
PALMERSTON 

William IV. was sixty-five years old when he came to the 
throne, and he reigned but seven years. He died at Windsor 
on June 20, 1837, and was succeeded by his niece Victoria, 
the daughter of the Duke of Kent. Hanover now became a 
separate kingdom, as it could not be governed by a woman, 
and passed under the rule of the Duke of Cumberland, the 
fifth of the sons of George III. Victoria was but eighteen 
years old at her accession to the throne, but her virtue and her 
native dignity immediately won her the heart of the English 
nation. She was married in 1840 to her cousin, Prince Albert 
of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, a man by no means brilliant, but sen- 
sible, right-minded, and discreet. Both her public and her 
private life have been wholly admirable, and her reign has 
been one of almost uninterrupted prosperity. No English 
ruler has shown so full a recognition as Victoria of the sover- 
eign rights of the people. She has reigned as a constitutional 
monarch, and has never attempted to assert her own will in 
opposition to the expressed will of the nation. Compliance 
with the people's mandates has not always been easy. Her 
political and social preferences are strong, and she has some- 
times been forced to accept ministers and measures that were 
extremely distasteful to her. But whatever the voice of the 
nation has demanded she has faithfully executed. 

Reforms came rapidly under this liberal-minded and consti- 
tutional Sovereign. In 1839 was adopted the system of penny 
postage. Formerly the dues upon letters were not prepaid 
and the amount that was collected upon a letter depended upon 
the distance it was carried. The awkwardness and injustice 
of this method attracted the attention of Sir Rowland Hill, who 

286 



CHAP. Ill QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN 287 

advocated uniform rates of postage and the use of stamps. 
His ideas were so novel that they encountered much opposition 
at first; but their adoption brought vast benefit to the people 
and made the management of the postal service far more sim- 
ple and easy for the Government. 

The condition of the working-classes was further improved 
in 1843 by the efforts of Lord Ashley. This earnest phi- 
lanthropist, who afterward became Lord Shaftesbury, has a 
peculiarly honorable place among the reformers of this cen- 
tury. He was a very intense, prejudiced, and intolerant 
man, and his narrowness of mind prevented him from becom- 
ing a great statesman. But his sympathies were most 
humane, and his interest in the poor and suffering was deep 
and genuine. He labored assiduously all his life to improve 
the condition of the unfortunate, and he became recognized as 
the foremost philanthropist of England. Through his efforts 
the insane were properly cared for, factories were carefully 
inspected, the hours of labor were curtailed, and working- 
women and children were protected from the unhappy effects 
of industrial competition. It was in behalf of women and 
children that Lord Ashley exerted himself in 1843. He 
secured the passage of a bill by which the employment of 
women in mines was forbidden; and children under ten years 
of age were not to be employed at all. But these and other 
measures in favor of the working-classes did not pass without 
encountering serious opposition. The competition of other 
European countries was greatly dreaded. Even men of liberal 
sympathies prophesied that England would lose her commercial 
supremacy if her laborers received greater consideration than 
those of other nations. But these forebodings have been 
proved groundless by the course of events. Labor is more 
effective when it is intelligent, free, and protected from drastic 
exertions. 

But the time had come when a momentous and revolutionary 
change in England's commercial policy was necessary. The 
landowners had kept the value of agricultural products high 
by imposing taxes on imported articles of food. But as Eng- 
land's population increased, this system became more and more 
oppressive to the laboring classes. The price of wheat was 
kept so high that bread was to the poor man a luxury. Eng- 



288 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

land's workingmen were but too often ill fed and destitute. 
The country was sacrificing the class upon which its prosperity- 
depended. No wonder, then, that a fierce agitation against 
the Corn Law was begun. 

The leader in the movement for free trade was Richard 
Cobden. His tracts were circulated all over the land. John 
Bright gave him able assistance; and the Anti-Corn-Law 
League won hosts of converts by its ceaseless exertions. The 
feeling against protection became so strong that Sir Robert 
Peel, the head of the Conservative Government, was, in 1842, 
obliged to modify the duty on corn and to lighten or abolish the 
duty on seven hundred and fifty other imported articles. But 
Peel was pledged to support the landed interest, and only the 
force of circumstances converted him to free trade. In 1845 
the potato crop, in Ireland failed, and the grain crops of Scot- 
land and Ireland were short. The nation had to choose between 
famine and free corn. Peel was humane enough and wise 
enough to see that the Corn Laws were doomed. He advocated 
their repeal ; but some of his Cabinet were obdurate, and he 
resigned. But no other statesman was equal to the crisis. 
So he was recalled, and the obnoxious laws were repealed in 
the face of fierce opposition and forebodings of national dis- 
aster. Peel had saved his country, but in doing so he had 
incurred the enmity of his party. The Tories could not forgive 
him for abandoning the principles he was placed in power to 
defend; and after a time they succeeded in overthrowing him. 
But since his death his countrymen have done full justice to 
his memory. His position was a trying one, but he would not 
have been a true patriot had he done otherwise than he did. 
He was not a man of genius or of great foresight. More than 
once he resisted needed reforms. But in the massiveness of 
his character, in the breadth of his intellect, and in his un- 
flinching discharge of duty he embodied the best traits of the 
English mind and temper. 

The duty on corn being removed, other taxes on imports 
were one by one abandoned. England became more and more 
committed to free trade. One protected interest after another 
was deprived of government support, and taxes were finally 
imposed for revenue only. The Navigation Laws, which im- 
posed ingenious restrictions on the shipping of other nations. 



CHAP. Ill QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN 289 

were abolished, though not without some difficulty. And the 
tax on sugar, intended to protect British planters in the West 
Indies, whose product was admitted at a very low rate, was 
modified. Free trade has not benefited all classes in England 
equally. Under its workings the landlords and farmers have 
seen their incomes diminish alarmingly, and they have often 
sighed for the good old days of protection. But the commercial 
prosperity of the nation is directly due to its free-trade policy. 
By admitting raw materials free of duty, England enables her 
manufacturers to produce their wares with the utmost possible 
bheapness, and to find a market for them all over the world. 
Realizing this, her statesmen resolutely frown upon all at- 
tempts to revive protection, in spite of the discontent of the 
farmers and the impoverished country squires. 

Not even free trade, however, could at once bring the suffer- 
ings and hardships of the workingmen to an end, and the dis- 
content which had long existed among the English laborers 
caused an alarming agitation in 1848. For it was in that year 
that the famous Chartist movement forced itself upon the 
attention of the country, and, for a short time, assumed a com- 
manding importance. The movement had been founded ten 
years earlier, when six members of the House of Commons 
held a conference with representatives of the Workingmen's 
Association, and demanded six important reforms in a docu- 
ment known as The People's Charter. The reforms were: 
(1) annual parliaments; (2) universal suffrage; (3) the bal- 
lot; (4) abolition of the property qualification for a seat in 
the House of Commons ; (5) payment of members of the House 
of Commons; (6) the apportionment of electoral districts by 
population. From the first the movement gained ground 
among the workingmen, and in 1848 the nation realized that 
it had become widespread and formidable. For, influenced 
largely by the revolutions that were disturbing Europe, the 
members of the Chartist organization now took an aggressive 
and threatening attitude. They met for military drill; they 
listened to incendiary speakers ; and they announced that, on 
the tenth of April, 500,000 men would meet in London, on 
Kensington Common, to march in procession and present a 
monstrous petition to Parliament. The petition was said to 
contain 6,000,000 signatures; and the Goverliment was so far 
u 



290 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

alarmed that it forbade the procession and took extraordinary 
precautions to preserve the peace. But when the day came 
round, only 50,000 men assembled instead of 500,000, and the 
petition was found to contain less than 2,000,000 genuine sig- 
natures. So the attempted demonstration proved a fiasco, and 
with the return of prosperity the Chartist movement lost its sig- 
nificance. Yet it was not organized in vain, for of the reforms it 
demanded some have been granted wholly or in part, while the 
others are even now advocated by the Kadicals of the kingdom. 

Some evidence of England's prosperity was given by the 
industrial exhibition of 1851. This was the first of those 
colossal exhibits which have attracted the attention of the 
world and have powerfully stimulated arts and manufactures. 
It was undertaken at the suggestion of the Prince Consort, 
and was held in the Crystal Palace, especially constructed for 
the purpose. The variety and brilliancy of the exhibit called 
forth universal admiration; and the project was successful 
from every point of view. Unlike some that have succeeded 
it, it more than paid for itself. 

In the following year occurred an event which calls for 
special mention and which caused profound sorrow throughout 
the English nation. On September 14, 1852, the Duke of 
Wellington died at the age of eighty-three. He was greater 
as a soldier than as a statesman; yet even in peace his profound 
respect for law, his moral dignity, and his sturdy sense had 
been of much service to his country. The victor of Waterloo 
will always be remembered as one of the greatest of English- 
men. 

The triumphs of industry and of domestic progress were 
mingled with victories of a sterner kind. For England has 
had much stormy and tumultuous experience during Victoria's 
reign. Her widespread dominions easily bring her into con- 
flict. For she has to keep in order the races she has subju- 
gated, and to maintain her frontiers against aggression. 
Sometimes the conquest of one province leads to that of a 
neighboring one and then to still others adjoining, in order 
that unruly tribes may not be hovering about her borders, 
ready to disturb the peace. And the very vastness of Eng- 
land's power is a source of temptation. It excites the desire 
of bringing new tracts under her civilizing sway; and it also 



CHAP. Ill QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN 291 

occasions distrust and suspicion of other nations that push 
their own conquests rapidly forward. More than one unjust 
and needless war has disgraced England's annals during the 
nineteenth century. Afghanistan, India, China, various por- 
tions of Africa, and other countries have been the scenes of 
bloody conflicts between England and her civilized or savage 
opponents. 

Peculiarly jealous and sensitive has Great Britain been re- 
garding her Indian possessions. At the beginning of the 
century her conquest of India was by no means complete, and 
she has engaged in several wars with a view to extending and 
strengthening her rule over the Indian races. In 1824 she 
began the conquest of Burma and annexed portions of that 
formidable empire. In 1839 she attempted to get control of 
Afghanistan, for the advance of the Russians into Asia occa- 
sioned alarm. It was believed by many that Russia could 
easily invade India by occupying the Afghan territory; so 
England determined to forestall her by taking possession of 
that important strategic country. But the attempt only ended 
in disaster. British troops occupied Kabul; but in January, 
1842, nearly 4000 soldiers and 1200 camp followers, after 
retiring from that city, were cut down almost to a man in the 
Khyber Pass. And though the massacre was avenged, the 
country was evacuated. Better success attended the attempt 
to subjugate new tracts in India. There was much fighting 
between the English and the natives from 1843 to 1853, as a 
result of which Sind, the Panjab, and Pegu in Burma were 
brought under British rule. 

The conquest of India led to a war with the neighboring 
empire of China. Hostilities first broke out in 1840 owing to 
a difficulty on the opium question; but after Canton was cap- 
tured and Nanking threatened, the Chinese consented to a 
treaty of peace, which opened some of their principal cities to 
the British. Thus the traffic in opium, to which China had 
objected, was thoroughly established.^ But in 1856 an outrage 
perpetrated on a British vessel in Canton River led to a second 

1 Much censure has been visited upon this traffic and upon England for 
insisting upon its establishment; and the criticism is well grounded, though 
there is something to be said upon the other side of the question. Nineteenth 
Century, 11: 242 and 403; Saturday Review, 54: 331; Contemporary Review, 
74 : 121. 



292 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

war. Ci-nton was taken by the British in 1857 ; and the Peace 
of Tients'n was made in 1858. The Chinese granted freedom 
of trade and protection to Christians, and agreed to bear the 
expenses ol the war. This treaty, however, was not kept. So, 
in 1860, the English and French undertook a joint expedition 
against China and brought her to terms. Peking was threat- 
ened, and a new peace was concluded, by which harbors were 
opened and freer communication with European states was 
established. 

This war with a vast but sleepy Oriental state never assumed 
an alarming character. But the struggle with Eussia was 
much more serious. Trouble with Russia first arose in 1853; 
on March 28, 1854, the Crimean War was declared. It was a 
conflict that appealed to the English national pride, for its 
object was to cripple Russia and prevent her from advancing 
on Constantinople. Hence, the English were led into the Avar 
by very much the same feelings that caused them to invade 
Afghanistan: in order to make that country a barrier against 
Russian advance upon India. None the less the war was a 
mischievous one and utterly uncalled for. It accomplished no 
good whatever. It encouraged the Turk to feel that England 
would protect him in his career of barbarity and crime; and at 
a critical period it committed England to an evil and mistaken 
policy. For at this time England was probably strong enough 
to coerce the Turk, and force him to rule with decency or to 
abdicate. It is possible that she could have worked with 
Russia to bring about that end. The Russian Chancellor, 
Nesselrode, heartily believed in an alliance with England and 
had endeavored to bring such an alliance about; and the 
Emperor Nicholas shared his views upon this matter. But the 
Emperor suffered from brain disease in the closing years of his 
life, resented opposition, and seemed unable to adhere to a 
single line of policy. His contradictions made it difficult to 
work with him rather than against him; the English suspicion 
and jealousy of Russia made cooperation with him practically 
impossible. So England listened to the evil suggestions of 
Napoleon III., and espoused the cause of the Turk instead of 
uniting with Russia to keep him in order. The result was a 
bloody war and an estrangement Avith Russia which has never 
been removed. And now, at the close of the century, England, 



CHAP. Ill QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN 293 

the only European power humane enough to arrest the Turk in 
his brutal career, no longer has the strength to do so. Ger- 
many and Austria have a vital interest in the disposition of 
Constantinople; and they, as well as Russia, would resist any 
attempt on the part of England to settle the pestiferous Eastern 
Question. 

So the war policy prevailed in spite of the protests of some 
manly and noble-minded Englishmen. John Bright denounced 
the war in no measured terms, but his grave and lofty utter- 
ances ^ were treated as the delusions of a mere theorist who 
had no understanding of the practical side of national politics. 
The war was begun, but at first it was most inefficiently man- 
aged. Lord Aberdeen was the English Prime Minister. He 
was not a man of great ability ; moreover, he was not heartily 
in favor of the war. He did not prosecute it with energy, and 
very soon came complaints that the troops were not properly 
clothed, fed, and sheltered. The London Times " thundered " ; 
the Ministry resigned. Lord Palmerston was called on to form 
a Cabinet, and under his vigorous administration England 
recovered her military prestige. Russia was humiliated and 
the Ministry was popular. None the less Lord Palmerston's 
influence upon English politics was by no means wholly good. 
Arrogant and self-willed, he had already been censured by the 
Queen for his headstrong course as Foreign Secretary ; for he 
had not hesitated to embarrass the Government by the rash 
expression of his individual opinions. But keenly though he 
felt the royal rebuke, he did not drop his hauteur of manner 
and his insolent disdain of his political opponents. The 
criticisms of men like Bright he treated with contempt,'' and 

1 " Let it not be said that I am alone in my condemnation of tliis war and of 
this incapable and guilty administration. And, even if I were alone, if mine 
were a solitary voice, raised amid the din of arras and the clamors of a venal 
press, I should have the consolation I have to-night — and which I trust will 
be mine to the last moment of my existence — the priceless consolation that 
no word of mine has tended to promote the squandering of my country's 
treasure or the spilling of one single drop of my country's blood." — " Speeches 
by the Right Hon. John Bright, M.P.," edited by James E. Thorold Rogers, 
p. 246. 

2 Yet Lord Palmerston must have winced sometimes under John Bright's 
vigorous thrusts. In defending the Crimean War, Lord Palmerston had the 
audacity to assert that the Turks had improved within the past twenty years 
more than any other nation in Europe, knowing well that this statement did 



294 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

his mocking and defiant attitude did not lend dignity to the 
debates of the House of Commons.-' But for a number of 
years after the outbreak of the Crimean War he was recognized 
as the foremost statesman of England. He was Prime Minis- 
ter from 1855 to 1858 and from 1859 to 1865. In his earlier 
life he was a Tory; but his humane sympathies led him after 
a time into the Liberal party. For he disliked the Holy 
Alliance, and he believed that the weaker nations of Europe 
should be allowed to win their freedom and to establish con- 
stitutional governments without being thwarted by the stronger 
powers. So, naturally, he sympathized with Napoleon III, in 
his efforts to free Italy from Austrian rule; and he would 
have protected Denmark from Austria and Prussia in 1864, if 
he could have secured the active cooperation of other powers. 
His interference in European politics was not, therefore, with- 
out its beneficial effects. But he lent his support to the "un- 
speakable Turk"; and his foreign policy lacked breadth, and 
marked him rather as an astute diplomatist than as a states- 
man of the loftiest aims. He was no true representative of 
English liberalism. He turned the thoughts of the nation 
away from peaceful progress; and he died at an advanced age 
without having left any enduring monument to win for him 
the gratitude of his country. 

The Crimean War was stern and bloody; it was soon fol- 
lowed by one Avhich shook England to its very centre. In the 
spring of 1857 occurred the Sepoy Mutiny, which at once as- 
sumed alarming proportions. It arose partly from the dislike 
of the native soldiers for the greased cartridge required by the 
Enfield musket. But the greased cartridge was the occasion 
rather than the cause of the rebellion. Widespread disaft'ec- 
tion toward the English existed among the Indian troops, and 
their mutinous spirit was increased by their great numerical 
superiority over the English soldiers. There were in the 

not apply to the Christians under Turkish rule, though he meant to give the 
impression that it did. Mr. Bright thereupon accused him of "a disingenu- 
ousness which I should be ashamed to use in argument." — Speech on the 
"Enlistment of Foreigners Bill" (already quoted from on the preceding 
page). 

1 Lord Palmerston was an Iri.sh peer, and preferred to he elected to the 
House of Commons than to represent Ireland in the House of Lords. For not 
all Irish peers can sit in the House of Lords, but only a certain number (twenty- 
eight), who are elected for life by their fellow-peers. 



CHAP. Ill QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN 295 

Indian army 230,000 Sepoys and only 40,000 Europeans. 
Naturally, therefore, the natives thought they could free 
themselves from a rule which, for all its benefits, they never 
loved. Regiment after regiment of Sepoys mutinied, and 
soon nearly 100,000 soldiers were in revolt. It was difficult 
for the English to quell the uprising promptly, for they had 
to act over a large territory with an insufficient force of men. 
Fortunately for them the principal native princes remained 
loyal. Had it been otherwise, the whole country would have 
had to be reconquered. 

Even as it was, the English found their task a most formi- 
dable one. The rebels captured some strongholds and invested 
others that were rescued with difficulty. The heroic defence 
of Lucknow has become famous in history; and Havelock, 
who relieved it, and Sir Henry Lawrence, who was killed 
while defending it, are counted among the heroes of the Eng- 
lish nation. A still higher place was given to Lord John 
Lawrence, whose wise rule and remarkable foresight undoubt- 
edly kept the Panjab from joining the mutiny. 

English valor and discipline triumphed over every obstacle. 
In a few months the revolt was practically quelled, though it 
took some time to stamp out all the sparks of rebellion. But 
the atrocities committed by the Sepoys were frightful beyond 
description. They had no respect for age or sex, and the 
sufferings they inflicted upon women and children made the 
English thirst for vengeance deep and terrible. But for 
the firm refusal of Lord Lawrence, the Taj at Agra would 
have been razed to the ground; and how some of the ring- 
leaders of the mutiny were blown from the mouths of cannon 
is a well-known story. Awful as this punishment seems, it is 
hardly to be condemned on the score of cruelty, for the death 
itself was a painless one. It was planned simply to teach an 
impressive lesson ; for the bodies thus scattered to the wind 
could not be reunited, and to the sensuous mind of the Hindu 
this meant the destruction of the soul. But it is hard to jus- 
tify such an outrageous contempt for the religion of a subject 
people; and the act was, moreover, a political mistake. It 
served to deepen the sullen resentment of the Hindus toward 
their English masters — a resentment which may again burst 
forth into a lurid and destructive flame. 



GKEAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 



After the Sepoy rebellion was ended, and peace was finally 
made with China, no wars of consequence occurred for a num- 
ber of years. England was free to consider domestic affairs; 
but for some time no important reforms were carried through. 
Lord John Eussell had long been anxious to extend the fran- 
chise, and had brought in a bill to secure that end in 1854. 
But the measure failed to pass. Nor was this reform anymore 
successful when advocated by the short-lived Conservative 
Ministry of Lord Derby, in 1858, or by Lord John Russell in 
his excellent bill presented in 1860. Even the most progres- 
sive nation cannot continue in the path of reforin without 
respite or cessation; and after repealing the Corn Laws, Eng- 
land might well pause and survey the beneficial changes she 
had made through the preceding quarter of a century. The 
years between 1850 and 1865 were years of growth and expan- 
sion under the new conditions created by the radical legisla- 
tion of earlier years. The country was somewhat tired of 
reforms. What it needed was to reap the full benefit of those 
already made. Moreover, the succession of exciting events 
that began with the Crimean War absorbed the attention of 
the nation. Not long after the Sepoy mutiny was suppressed 
came the war in North Italy waged by Napoleon III. against 
Austria; and this struggle was watched with eager interest by 
the English people. And hardly had this conflict been de- 
cided, when the American Civil War began, and gave the 
English Government grave qviestions to consider and to settle. 
Lord Palmerston's sympathies lay with the South rather than 
the North, as did those of many prominent Englishmen of 
both parties. Hence there was a strong feeling in favor 
of recognizing the Southern Confederacy. The better sense 
of the nation prevented such an act of hostility toward the 
American Union; but to the end of the war the Cabinet had to 
face troublesome problems regarding its proper attitude toward 
the two belligerents. In 1861 occurred the irritating Trent 
Aifair, so called because the envoys of the Confederacy, Mason 
and Slidell, were forcibly taken from the British steamer 
Trent by an Amerian man-of-war. England at once prepared 
to make war on the United States, but the prompt restoration 
of the envoys by President Lincoln took away all pretext for 
resorting to arms. On this occasion the Prince Consort used 



CHAP. Ill QUEEN VICTORIA'S REIGN 297 

his influence to restrain and modify the excited British feeling, 
and his good offices won for him tlie respect and regard of the 
American people. They as well a3 the English deeply mourned 
his untimely death, which occurred at tlie close of 1861. 

The blockade of the ports of the Confederacy by the United 
States navy also caused great irritation in England. For 
through this blockade the English factories were deprived of 
cotton, large numbers of workmen were thrown out of employ- 
ment, and much suffering was caused. The Government, 
therefore, was under a strong pressure not to recognize the 
blockade, especially as it was imperfectly maintained, owing 
to the vast extent of coast which the United States gunboats 
had to watch. Neutrality was however preserved in this 
matter, but not in preventing Confederate cruisers from being 
constructed and manned in English ports. The steamships 
Florida and Alabama were both made for the Confederacy at 
Birkenhead by an English iirm, and were allowed to sail forth 
on their destructive mission, though the Government was fully 
warned of their character by the American minister at London. 
They did enormous damage to American commerce, and gave 
the United States ground for preferring against England the 
famous Alabama Claims. 



CHAPTER IV 

MR. GLADSTONE. — LORD BEACONSFIELD. RECENT EVENTS 

Much to the relief' of England, the American Civil War 
ended in 1865, and on October 18 of the same year occurred 
the death of Lord Palmerston, With the passing away of this 
contentious character began a new interest in reform. Lord 
Russell was made Prime Minister, and Mr. Gladstone, whose 
commanding abilities had long been recognized,^ became the 
Liberal leader in the House of Commons. The cause which 
was so dear to Lord Russell now seemed likely to succeed. A 
moderate bill to reform the franchise was brought forward by 
Mr. Gladstone, but it was defeated by the efforts of his politi- 
cal opponent, Mr. Disraeli. This was a sore disappointment 
to Lord Russell. He resigned, and abandoned the hope of 
being himself the means of accomplishing this reform which 
he had so often advocated. He never again held office, but 
as a member of the House of Lords he continued for some 
time to take an active interest in politics. Somewhat lacking 
in political sagacity and balanced judgment, he had not the 
qualities of a leader. Greatness of mind and character 
hardly belonged to him; he did not grow with his times, and 
before his death his liberalism represented the views of a past 
generation. 2 But for fifty years he gave his country valu- 
able service, and the laws of England are more humane and 
enlightened because of his parliamentary career. 

After Lord Russell's resignation Lord Derby was for the 

1 In particular Mr. Gladstone's skill iu finance was little short of marvel- 
lous. He handled the dry facts of revenue and expenditure so as to give them 
a genuine fascination. 

2 His speech in the House of Lords on the secret ballot, .July 8, 1872, is a 
curious presentation of antiquated ideas. See "Wagner's Modern Pulitical 
Orations," p. 158. 

298 



MR. GLADSTONE 299 



third time called to form a Cabinet. Mr. Disraeli, the most 
brilliant figure among the Conservatives, led his party in the 
House of Commons. Unscrupulous, shrewd, and boundlessly 
ambitious, he was always ready to do tlie tiling that would 
bring success ; and he now had the effrontery to carry through 
the reform which he had just pronounced revolutionary and 
had defeated. He presented a more radical measure for lower- 
ing the franchise than Mr. Gladstone had advocated, and it 
was passed, Lord Derby giving it his consent rather than his 
support. By its provisions suffrage was bestowed on all male 
householders in boroughs who were taxed for the relief of the 
poor, and on all persons in the counties who owned property 
that yielded an annual return of £5 or who paid rental of £12, 
The distribution of parliamentary seats was also made more 
fair; towns with less than 10,000 inliabitants that had two 
members of Parliament lost one of them, and a third member 
was granted to Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and Leeds. 
Altogether, the measure was as liberal a one as the country 
was then prepared for; but it was by no means a final settle- 
ment of the suffrage question. 

The Reform Bill was passed on August 15, 1867. Before the 
year was ended, England was drawn into one of those petty 
wars which she has had to undertake so often during the cen- 
tury. Theodore, King of Abyssinia, had imprisoned English 
officials and missionaries, and it was apparent that force alone 
would effect their release. An armed expedition was therefore 
sent from Bombay to invade his country and bring him to 
terms. This it succeeded in doing under the vigorous leader- 
ship of Sir R, Napier, The prisoners were set free, and the 
defeated and humiliated ruler shot himself rather than fall 
into the hands of the nation he had so insolently defied. 

About the same time the Eenian agitators, who had been 
more or less active since 1858, gave trouble in Ireland and on 
the Canadian border. In 1866 they crossed the Niagara into 
Canada, and were not repressed without bloodshed. In 1867 
they occasioned several outbreaks in Ireland, and large num- 
bers of them were arrested, tried, and convicted of treason. 
The movement was not in itself dangerous, but it was signifi- 
cant as revealing the deep-seated discontent of the Irish people. 
The Fenian oath called on the brotherhood " to free and regen- 



300 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

erate Ireland from the yoke of England." All the violence 
and the outrages of the Irish Land League were foreshadowed 
by this earlier agitation. 

Lord Derby retired from office on February 25, 1868, and 
Mr. Disraeli was made the head of the Cabinet. His minis- 
try, however, was of short duration. On November 11 of the 
same year Parliament was dissolved, and the Liberals gained 
a large majority in the elections. This meant that Mr. Glad- 
stone was to be Prime Minister; for he was now beyond 
question the foremost statesman of his party. Like Lord Pal- 
merston, he had begun his political career as a Tory; but his 
interest in reform did not allow him to continue with a party 
that resisted progress. He was now fifty -nine years old, but 
he was in the full vigor of his powers, and, unlike Lord Eus- 
sell, he was, even after passing middle life, amply able to grasp 
and assimilate new ideas. Hence, as long as he remained in 
politics, he continued to lead his party in the truest sense of 
the word. He did not allow it to rest upon its laurels, but 
continually forced it to take new and higher ground. 

Mr. Gladstone's term of office began on December 9, 1868. 
On March 1, 1869, he brought in a bill for the disestablish- 
ment of the Irish Church, and not without difficulty secured 
its passage through both Houses. The bill was aimed at 
crying abuses, for a population chiefly Catholic was obliged to 
support a Protestant Church; and the very endowments by 
which that Church was maintained had once belonged to the 
Catholics. But the measure attacked an arrogant and power- 
ful organization, and it excited the anti-Catholic feeling which 
is so deeply rooted in the English mind. After the Church 
was disestablished her bishops were no longer able to sit in 
the House of Lords or to receive their appointment from the 
Crown; her clergy could not obtain their support from the 
public revenues, though the life interest of existing clergymen 
was duly provided for; and her endowments were to be used 
for the good of Ireland after all just claims upon them had 
been paid. The sum realized from the endowments was not 
as large as Mr. Gladstone expected it to be, but it amounted 
to about $50,000,000. 

But other reforms, far more important than the disestab- 
lishment of the Church, were demanded by the Irish people. 



MR. GLADSTONE 301 



For the condition of Ireland was as deplorable as it was when 
the Act of Union was passed in 1800 (p. 267). Indeed, her 
wrongs dated back to the year 1177, when Henry II. invaded 
her shores and received the submission of her princes. Since 
that time the distracted country had met with little but cruelty 
and injustice at the hands of its conquerors. The English 
ruled Ireland with sole regard to their own interests, confis- 
cated her lands, brutalized her peasantry, and punished insur- 
rection with fire and sword (p. 267). Prostrate and bleeding, 
her people submitted to hateful laws which they were power- 
less to evade. Those laws that were most oppressive to the 
Catholics were modified or changed; but nothing was done for 
the Irish tenant, whose condition was a most unhappy one. 
He could be ejected at his landlord's will ; the improvements 
he made upon his holding could be appropriated by his land- 
lord; and his rent was often increased because of these very 
improvements which he had made and which had rendered the 
holding more valuable. Moreover, many landlords made their 
homes in England, never seeing their tenants, but submitting 
them to the merciless exactions of dishonest agents. 

Under these hard conditions the Irish peasants could not 
thrive. They lived in poverty and misery, and their discon- 
tent grew deeper the longer their sufferings continued unre- 
lieved. When the crops failed, famine overtook them and 
drove them out of the country in great numbers. The potato 
famine in 1845 caused a wholesale emigration, and the popu- 
lation soon diminished from 8,000,000 to 6,500,000. This 
exodus brought relief, but those who were unwilling to emi- 
grate still suffered from the unjust land laws and answered 
injustice by crime. But the remedy for crime was coercion, 
and again and again in the course of the century has England 
placed Ireland under military law. More than forty coercion 
acts for Ireland were passed by the British Parliament between 
1801 and 1887. But coercion was in no true sense a remedy 
for Irish agitation. It silenced discontent, but it did not heal 
it. What the Irish peasants craved was justice, and even jus- 
tice failed to satisfy them at last, so long was it withheld. 
The peasant brooded over his wrongs. He reflected that the 
land had once belonged to his ancestors and had been taken 
from them by force. He therefore learned to regard it as 



802 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book n 

rightfully his own, and he determined to regain possession of 
it if possible. A deep longing for national independence was 
taking hold of his mind. 

But relief from the oppressive land laws was the first step 
necessary. Three things the Irish peasants demanded to 
relieve their distress — fixity of tenure, fair rent, and free sale 
of improvements. These demands were termed the three Y's, 
an3. they commended themselves to Mr. Gladstone's sense 
of justice. In a very imperfect manner the three F's were 
embodied in the Irish Land Bill of 1870, which was Mr. Glad- 
stone's first attempt to redress the wrongs of the Irish tenant. 
As time showed, it was not a very satisfactory bill. It 
offended the landlord and it did not sufficiently relieve the 
tenant. Yet it marked in a very striking manner the change 
of attitude which England, under Mr. Gladstone's lead, was 
learning to take toward the Irish people. For besides grant- 
ing, however imperfectly, the three F's, the bill contained pro- 
visions for enabling tenants to buy their farms from the owners 
of them by small annual payments extending over thirty-five 
years, two thirds of the purchase money to be advanced by the 
State. Thus, it was fully recognized that Ireland had griev- 
ances which coercion could not cure. Yet even Mr. Gladstone 
was not ready to accept Home Rule; nor was it distinctly 
advocated in Paidiament during his first administration. But 
the Home Rule spirit was steadily growing at this time. The 
Irish people had conceived such a thorough mistrust of English 
justice, that they longed for the right to manage their own 
affairs. And although their leaders at first professed entire 
loyalty to the Empire, it became apparent before many years 
that Home Rule was by many Irishmen considered a step 
toward a separate national existence.^ 

1 In the general elections that were held in February, 1874 (p. 304), the 
Home Rulers obtained 60 seats out of the 103 that belonged to Ireland in 
the National Parliament. Accordingly, their leader, Isaac Butt, felt justified 
in demanding Home Rule for Ireland, which he did in a speech delivered in 
Parliament on March 20, 1874. But in the following sentence, and in others 
almost equally emphatic, he denied that he and his followers wished to make 
Ireland an independent nation: "I believe I speak for every member who 
has been returned for Ireland on the Home Rule principle when I say that 
we repudiate, in the strongest terms, the slightest wish to break up the unity 
of the Empire, or to bring about a collision between England and Ireland." 
Similarly, Mr. O'Brien says, in his " Fifty Years of Concessions to Ireland " 



MR. GLADSTONE 303 



Other' enlightened measures besides his efforts in behalf of 
Ireland distinguished Mr. Gladstone's administration. After 
long negotiation between Great Britain and the United States, 
the Alabama Claims were finally settled, in 1872, by a court 
of arbitration which met at Geneva. The amount awarded to 
the United States was a little over $15,000,000, and was 
promptly paid. The purchase system in the army was abol- 
ished, and the wealthy were no longer able to buy commis- 
sions for their sons. Naturally the Lords resisted this reform 
very fiercely ; for the peers expected the army to furnish a 
career for their younger sons, who were often too devoid of 
talent or training to secure an army appointment by merit. 
But the Queen threatened to create new peers, and the Lords 
gave way. A great protection to the voter was afforded by 
the adoption of the secret ballot, in 1872. The system then 
adopted by the Parliamentary and Municipal Elections Bill is 
practically the same that is known in ^Lmerica as the Austra- 
lian Ballot system. Such a system seems to be necessary in 
all countries that have an extended suffrage, in order that the 
poor may cast their vote without intimidation. Mr. Gladstone 
also gave his attention to educational affairs. Such religious 
tests as still remained at the Universities of Oxford and Cam- 
bridge were removed; steps were taken toward opening the 
schools to all and making attendance compulsory. This was 
a much needed reform ; for education had been largely in the 
hands of the Established Church, and it was by no means free 
to all. But the nation was still to wait many years for a fully 
developed and complete system of national education. 

But the nation wearied of Mr. Gladstone's tireless pace as a 
reformer. His majority in the House of Commons dwindled. 
In March, 1873, he was defeated in attempting to pass a 
bill granting better educational advantages to the Irish. He 
resigned, but assumed office again when Mr. Disraeli declined 
to form a ministry. But in January, 1874, the Queen, at his 

(II. 427), "The masses of the Irish people are disposed to be loyal to the 
English connection; . . . they appreciate its value and desire its preserva- 
tion." But the truth of these utterances may he questioned. They are 
contradicted by the violent deeds and the rancorous expressions of the peas- 
antry, many of whom are tilled with bitter hatred toward England, and 
do not hesitate to avow opinions which their leaders consider it impolitic to 
publish. 



304 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

suggestion, dissolved Parliament. The elections showed a 
Conservative majority of about fifty, and Mr. Disraeli came 
into power. 

This adroit politician had no thought of keeping the nation 
in the path of domestic progress. He thoroughly understood 
the temper of the Conservative party, and he was determined 
to win its entire devotion by a showy and dazzling foreign 
policy. Yet some minor reforms were accomplished ere home 
questions were abandoned in favor of the more imposing inter- 
ests of empire. Church patronage was abolished in Scotland. 
Laws were passed to check the practices of the ritualists of 
the Established Church. Above all, through the exertions of 
Mr. Plimsoll, British seamen were protected from serving in 
"floating coffins," as unseaworthy and overloaded vessels were 
called. But such matters as these were to Mr. Disraeli tame 
and uninteresting. He wished to strengthen and extend the 
British Empire, and to impress the world with a sense of its 
greatness. With this object in view he had the title Empress 
of India bestowed upon Queen Victoria; and the Prince of 
Wales visited India, in 1875, to show the splendor and mag- 
nificence of English royalty. 

For a long time England had suspected Russia of designs 
upon her Indian possessions, and this suspicion Disraeli used 
adroitly to further his imperial scheme. He took the ground 
that Russia was England's natural enemy. Russian advance 
upon India must be prevented; the long-established policy of 
supporting the Turk as a barrier to Russian aggression must 
be maintained. Accordingly, when the Turkish atrocities in 
Bulgaria, in 1875, caused universal indignation, Disraeli and 
the Conservatives made light of them; and Russia's attempt 
to reduce the Turk to submission only excited their hostility. 
In vain did Mr. Gladstone expose the horrible barbarities of 
the Turk. He roused the moral sentiment of the English 
people, but he could make no impression on the Conservative 
majority in the House of Commons. The Conservatives sym- 
pathized with the Turk rather than with Russia; and when 
Turkey was thoroughly vanquished, they wished to prevent 
Russia from reaping the fruits of victory. In 1878 a congress 
met at Berlin to settle the questions that had arisen from the 
Russo-Turkish War. Lord Beaconsfield (Mr. Disraeli had 



LORD BEACONSFIELD 305 

been created Earl of Beaconsfield in 1876), accompanied by 
Lord Salisbury, attended it to represent England's interests; 
and there he did everything he could to protect Turkey and 
humiliate Russia. He kept Eastern Rumelia under Turkish 
suzerainty, thus establishing the Balkans as Turkey's northern 
boundary against the wish of the other powers; he accepted 
the Turkish promises to make reforms and to grant religious 
liberty as if they were really made in sincerity; and by a 
secret agreement with Turkey he secured for England the con- 
trol of Cyprus, though the island was still to be regarded as 
an integral part of the Turkish Empire. 

Eeturning to England from the Berlin Congress, Lord Bea- 
consfield announced that he brought back "peace with honor." 
His reception was enthusiastic. He had become the idol of 
his party. He therefore adhered to his showy imperial policy 
and allowed it to involve England in several costly and unjus- 
tifiable wars. Ever since the disaster of the Khyber Pass, in 
1842, England had cultivated friendly relations with Afghan- 
istan, with a view to keeping that country out of Russian 
control. This wise policy Lord Beaconsfield reversed. He 
deliberately picked a quarrel with the Afghans toward the end 
of 1878, and forced that unfortunate people into a war of self- 
defence. Their country was .overrun with British troops. 
Their Ameer abdicated, leaving the land a prey to anarchy. 
They were forced to submit to British rule. The British took 
possession of the important stronghold of Herat; and Lord 
Beaconsfield triumphantly announced that England commanded 
"the great gates to India." But the moral sense of the Eng- 
lish nation had been shocked by this wicked war, in which 
$80,000,000 had been squandered and 50,000 lives thrown 
away. The policy which had caused this waste of men and 
money was to receive a crushing rebuke in the approaching 
elections. 

The war with the Transvaal in South Africa had no better 
excuse than that with Afghanistan. The Transvaal is a 
republic containing about 50,000 Dutch Boers and 1,000,000 
negroes. In its vicinity were three other European States, 
Cape Colony and Natal under British rule, and the Orange 
Free State, which, like the Transvaal, was independent. It 
was Lord Beaconsfield's policy to unite all these States into a 



306 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book *. 

confederation, and to this end the Transvaal was annexed to 
England in 1877. True, the annexation was called for by a 
few of the Boers; but the President and the popular Assembly 
of the Republic protested against it. Finding tlieir protests 
of no avail, they took up arms for their independence, in 1879. 
They proved themselves valiant fighters; and when the Liber- 
als came into power they had to consider whether the strength 
of England should be used to crush this brave little people. 

The same policy that tried to annex the Transvaal brought 
on a conflict with the friendly Zulus. To carry out the plan 
of confederation, England purchased Delagoa Bay from Por- 
tugal for $3,000,000, and coveted Lucia Bay to the south of 
it, which the Zulus owned. Their chief, Cetewayo, had 
always shown a liking for the English. None the less Sir 
Bartle Erere, who had been sent to South Africa to carry out 
Lord Beaconsfield's schemes, made war upon him. Cete- 
wayo's country was invaded toward the end of 1878, but the 
English had underrated their savage antagonist. They met 
with one or two disasters, and, in 1879, Sir Garnet Wolseley 
was sent to South Africa to subdue the defiant chief. He soon 
succeeded. Cetewayo was captured, and the Zulu war, after 
costing over f 20,000,000, was brought to an end. 

In spite of severe arraignments by Mr. Gladstone and others, 
Lord Beaconsfield kept his majority in the House of Commons. 
But early in 1880 Parliament was dissolved, and the Conserva- 
tives were overwhelmingly defeated in the elections. In the 
new House of Commons there were but 240 Conservatives 
against 342 Liberals and 63 Home Eulers. In this striking 
manner did the nation express its condemnation of Lord Bea- 
consfield's imperial policy with its wicked waste of blood and 
treasure. 

Mr. Gladstone had abandoned the leadership of the Liberal 
party, after retiring from office in 1874. But the election 
meant that the country demanded his guidance, and no one 
else would have been able to form a Cabinet. He was made 
Prime Minister for the second time ; but his task was not an 
easy one. The British troops were to be withdrawn from 
Afghanistan, — a step made necessary by English feeling, yet 
none the less galling to the national pride. The claim of the 
Boers was to be faced. Egyptian affairs were assuming a 



RECENT EVENTS 307 



troublesome aspect. The Irish were clamoring for further 
relief; ami various measures of domestic reform were urgently 
demanded. 

Mr. Gladstone's government did not shrink from these 
troublesome questions. In spite of the protests of the Indian 
army officers, the English troops were withdrawn from Afghan- 
istan. The Transvaal was restored to the Boers, even though 
they had just inflicted a signal defeat upon the British at 
Majuba Hill. According to England's traditional policy, a 
victorious enemy must be humbled before peace can be made 
with him. But to his lasting honor Mr. Gladstone granted 
the Boers their independence (subject to England's suzerainty 
in negotiations with foreign powers) without first attempting 
to wipe out the disgrace of defeat by a needless victory. But 
Egyptian and Irish affairs were not thus easily settled. Even 
at the close of the century they still wait for a permanent 
solution. 

The Irish question assumed a new aspect in 1876. In that 
year the Irish members of Parliament who advocated Home 
Rule formed themselves into a solid phalanx, and aggressively 
demanded the redress of their country's wrongs. Their leader 
was Charles Stewart Parnell,^ a man of intrepid courage, rare 
organizing ability, and first-rate power in debate. His control 
over his followers was absolute. Under his direction the 
Home Rulers acted as one and became a formidable body of 
obstructionists in Parliament. But during Lord Beaconsfield's 
rule they accomplished little besides making themselves a 
nuisance to both parties. When Mr. Gladstone came into 
power, their prospects brightened. That he would do some- 
thing to relieve the Irish peasantry seemed certain. Yet it 
was some time before he was ready to grant the demands of 
the Home Rulers. The Irish were distressed and unfortunate, 
but they were also lawless. Agrarian crime seemed to be in- 
creasing. The peasants murdered their landlords and maimed 
their cattle. The Irish Land League, founded by Mr. Parnell 
in 1879, did not try to suppress these outrages, and it encour- 
aged the tenant to avoid paying his rent by every possible 
means. This condition of affairs naturally inclined even a 

1 Mr. Isaac Butt was the nominal leader of the Irish Liberals till 1879, and 
William Shaw for a short time after that. 



308 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 



Liberal Government to employ force to suppress disorder; and 
this inclination was strengthened by the famous Phoenix Park 
tragedy, that occurred in 1882. On May 6 of that year Lord 
Frederick Cavendish, Chief Secretary of Ireland, and his 
assistant, Mr. Burke, were murdered in PhcBnix Park, at Dub- 
lin, by Irish assassins. The crime caused intense indignation 
throughout England, and the leaders of the Land League felt 
called upon to denounce it. Even so, Mr. Gladstone consid- 
ered that the state of Ireland called for martial law. A severe 
Coercion Act was passed, and the knife of the assassin was met 
by the bayonet of the constabulary. But justice as well as 
force was meted out. The Land Law of 1870 had failed to 
bring much relief, because tenants could contract themselves 
out of its operation ; and that they often did so contract them- 
selves at the instigation of their landlords was a natural con- 
sequence. Moreover, the sales of land to tenants under the 
provisions of this act had not been extensive. Mr. Gladstone 
accordingly brought in a new and more sweeping measure in 
1881. To tenants wishing to buy their holdings it advanced 
three fourths of the purchase money; and courts were estab- 
lished to regulate rents and prevent them from becoming 
excessive. 

But these liberal concessions did not win Mr. Gladstone the 
support of Parnell and his followers. The Home Rulers in 
Parliament were made angry by the Coercion Act, wliich they 
bitterly opposed when it was passed through Parliament. 
And some of them came into direct collision with the Govern- 
ment; for the Land League, to which they all belonged, 
adopted such violent methods of agitation that it was pro- 
nounced illegal. Parnell himself was for a time lodged in 
jail. But gradually Mr. Gladstone's views upon the Irish 
question underwent a change. He saw that violence was not 
cured by force, and he lost his faith in coercion. He secured 
the repeal of the drastic act of repression which he had 
believed necessary ; and as time passed he learned to regard 
conciliation as the only means of keeping Ireland loyal to the 
Empire. 

The origin of the troubles in Egypt seemed to date back to 
the construction of the Suez Canal. Lord Palmerston had, 
with remarkable foresight, seen that England would inevitably 



RECENT EVENTS 309 



become the largest owner of the canal, and would thereby be 
led into undesirable complications in regard to Egyptian 
affairs. He was' therefore heartily opposed to the construc- 
tion of the canal, not realizing its strategic importance. 
Exactly what he prophesied came to pass. In 1875 the shares 
in the canal owned by the Khedive of Egypt were purchased 
by the British Government. From this time on England had 
a vital interest in the canal, and hence in Egypt. And this 
interest was increased when British capitalists los.ned money 
again and again to the moribund Egyptian Government. The 
interest on the loans was not paid; and England assumed con- 
trol of Egyptian finances in order to protect its bondholders.^ 
France cooperated with England in the matter; but the Egyp- 
tians took it hard that their revenues should be managed by 
foreign powers. In 1882 Arabi Pasha, the Egyptian Minister 
of War, headed a revolt against the English and French su- 
premacy. His party raised the cry, "Egypt for the Egyp- 
tians," and for a time showed itself formidable. It even 
ventured to attack the English fleet which was lying off Alex- 
andria; and, on July 11, 1882, Alexandria was bombarded by 
the English and reduced to submission. Two months later, 
Arabi was defeated by the British forces at Tel-el-Kebir. 
Thus the country passed under English control, and it re- 
mained so. Great Britain, having taken possession of Egypt, 
did not see her way clear to withdraw from the country, 
though she had given the powers assurance that her occupa- 
tion would be temporary. 

Mr. Gladstone's Government was sharply criticised for the 
bombardment of Alexandria.^ Yet a long series of events 
seemed to make this action necessary. No doubt Egyptian 
finances have been manipulated too much in the interests of 
English bondholders; but Egypt has, in the end, benefited 
from English rule. Her affairs have been brought into order; 
the English supremacy is a protection to the fellaheen against 
the robbery and oppression of native governments. But the 
needless death of General Gordon will always be a reflection 

1 Consult " Spoiling'the Egyptians," by J. Seymour Keay. 

2 John Bright resigned his position in the Cabinet because he differed with 
his colleagues on their Egyptian policy and on Home Rule for Ireland, which 
Mr. Gladstone now advocated. 



310 GKEAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

upon the feebleness of the Liberal foreign policy. This daring 
adventurer undertook, on his own responsibility, to restore 
order in the Soudan. But when he was cooped up in Khar- 
tum, a relief expedition was sent to rescue him. To the pro- 
found sorrow of the whole English nation it arrived just too 
late. Khartum fell into the hands of the Mahdi ^ in January, 
1885. Gordon was slain; and the English abandoned the Sou- 
dan to the Mahdi and his followers. 

In 1884 the great question of electoral franchise was again 
revived, for not yet had the suffrage been so far extended as 
to satisfy the demands of the nation. By the Reform Act of 
1832 the middle classes were enfranchised; by that of 1867 
the right to vote was given quite extensively to workingmen 
in cities and boroughs; but laborers in small towns and vil- 
lages and in rural districts were still without the suffrage. 
It was to relieve the latter class that Mr. Gladstone passed the 
Electoral Bill of 1884. ^ By this measure 2,000,000 working- 
men were endowed with the franchise, and the number of 
voters in the kingdom was brought to about 6,000,000. Thus, 
the results which the Duke of Wellington and his political 
allies feared have gradually been brought about. The English 
political edifice now rests practically upon a basis of universal 
suffrage, and the government of the country is no longer in 
the hands of a privileged class. Leadership, however, still 
belongs to the men who, by reason of ability, education, social 
influence, and political experience, are best fitted to lead. Not 
yet has Great Britain experienced the full force of the level- 
ling tendencies of democracy. Her civil service has not been 
corrupted by the spoils system ; her finances are not controlled 
by the untrained masses; her laws are not framed at the insti- 

1 In 873 the last Mohammed of the family of All disappeared in a cave and 
was never seen again. His reappearance as El Mahdi (the leader) has been 
expected by many Mussulmans. In IS.SO a Mussulman named Mohammed 
Achmet claimed to be El Mahdi, and obtained a vast following among the 
dervishes of the Soudan. He is usually termed "the Mahdi," but he was a 
thorough impostor, licentious, arrogant, and cruel. See Slatin Pasha's " With 
Fire and Sword in the Soudan." 

2 This franchise extension bill was stoutly opposed by the Conservatives, 
and their objections to it were not without weight. Lord Salisbury claimed 
that it would merge the rural constituencies in a vast mass of urban electors 
and obliterate the distinction between the rural and urban parts of the country. 
— F. S. Pulling's " Life and Speeches of Lord Salisbury," IL l'Jj-l')7. 



RECENT EVENTS 311 



gation of the lobby ; her diplomats are not appointed for party 
reasons. Her government is, accordingly, one of the most 
admirably conducted that the world has ever seen. Whether 
it will continue to be so if the professional politician thrusts 
aside the statesman, and the caucus exercises its pernicious 
sway, the future has yet to show. Undoubtedly the franchise 
will in time be extended to all ; but it is to be hoped that 
universal suffrage will educate rather than impair the sturdy 
sense of the English people, and will complete rather than 
undermine the political edifice which six centuries have 
reared. 

But by this time the Liberal majority had dwindled, and, 
on June 9, 1885, Mr. Gladstone was defeated on a question of 
revenue. As Lord Beaconsfield had died in 1881, Lord Salis- 
bury, the recognized head of the Conservative party, was made 
Prime Minister without an appeal to the country. His short 
term of office was signalized by a further relief act for the 
Irish tenants. A new Land Bill was brought in by Lord Ash- 
bourne, which allowed peasants the long term of forty-nine 
years for buying their holdings, and advanced to them all the 
purchase money. This act was better planned than either of 
those passed by Mr. Gladstone ; and under it the sale of land 
to the Irish tenants greatly increased. 

Lord Salisbury's ministry only lasted till January, 1886. 
A dissolution of Parliament was followed by a Liberal victory; 
and, on February 1, 1886, Mr. Gladstone was for the third 
time made Prime Minister. His majority was considerable, 
331 Liberals having been returned against 249 Conservatives. 
But his term of office was brief. He had been thoroughly 
converted to Home Rule for Ireland, but his party would not 
follow him on this burning question, which caused a split in 
the Liberal ranks. For those who still accepted Mr. Glad- 
stone's leadership were now termed Gladstonians, while those 
who opposed him on the Home Rule question took the name of 
Liberal Unionists. 

It was in vain that Mr. Gladstone appealed to the country. 
The election returned 310 Conservatives and 73 Liberal-Union- 
ists against 196 Gladstonians and 95 Parnellites. Lord 
Salisbury was again called upon to form a Cabinet. The 
Conservatives seemed as strongly intrenched in power as they 



312 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book n 

were when Lord Beaconsfield's showy policy for a time cap- 
tivated the nation. 

But this policy could not be revived, even though the Con- 
servatives had a large majority in the House of Commons. 
Imperialism had not gone by, but it had become greatly modi- 
fied. England was bent on maintaining the power and great- 
ness of her Empire; but she could no longer venture upon 
wars of aggression. The sentiment of the whole civilized 
world was turning against war. The Conservatives as well as 
the Liberals were desirous of avoiding it. Moreover, the 
living questions of the day imperatively demanded attention. 
The Conservatives could not ignore them even if they would. 
Education, the relations of labor and capital, local government, 
and similar matters forced themselves upon the notice of the 
nation's lawmakers. No party that neglected these questions 
could long maintain itself in power. 

Hence the closing years of the century witness a great 
change in the policy of the Conservative party. Toward 
Home Rule it has remained utterly antagonistic. In other 
matters it is almost as ready for change as the Liberals them- 
selves, the Radicals being excepted. Evidence of this change 
we find in the acts of Lord Salisbury's administration. It 
still maintained a repressive policy toward Ireland. In 1887 
the National League was proclaimed dangerous; and a new 
Coercion Act was passed in order to repress agrarian disturb- 
ances. Toward Parnell himself, moreover, the Conservatives 
showed themselves bitter and contemptuous. The London 
Times brought grave charges against him and published letters, 
apparently in Parnell's own handwriting, to sustain them. 
He was accused of countenancing the Phoenix Park murders in 
1882, and of secretly fomenting crime and sedition. These 
charges the Conservatives believed; but a commission appointed 
to investigate them proved that the letters published by the 
Times were a forgery, and that the gravest of the charges were 
without foundation. 

But, aside from its attitude toward Irish affairs. Lord Salis- 
bury's administration showed itself liberal and progressive. 
In 1887 it passed a measure to relieve the laboring classes, 
called the Allotment Act. The measure provided that when- 
ever laborers could not procure land at a fair rent by private 



RECENT EVENTS 313 



arrangement, allotments, not exceeding one acre for an indi- 
vidual, should be made them by the State. In 1889 an act was 
passed to protect children from cruelty, neglect, and abuse. 
And in 1891 was passed an act to further elementary education. 
Tliis was a very important measure, and was in line with the 
educational legislation of the preceding twenty years. Eng- 
land was slowly learning to make education universal and 
compulsory. Yet the problem was not a simple or an easy one. 
The Church maintained schools which asked a small fee and 
which emphasized religious instruction. The State, in pro- 
viding free schools, could not ignore the Church schools, which 
had long done such excellent service; but how far it should 
help them was a perplexing question, not to be solved imme- 
diately and sure to call forth long and heated discussion. The 
act of 1891 was designed to provide free school accommodation 
wherever necessary ; but, in order to avoid friction, such edu- 
cation was not immediately made compulsory. 

During this Conservative administration occuxred the death 
of a Liberal leader who for fifty years had proved himself a 
stanch friend of democracy, and who deserves more than a 
passing notice in a history of England during the nineteenth 
century. For John Bright admirably embodied the best traits 
of the Anglo-Saxon temper. Sturdy, upright, fearless, and 
plain-spoken, he became the acknowledged champion of the 
English workingmen, and throughout his long life he espoused 
their cause with unswerving fidelity to principle. Born in 
1811, he became, about 1840, a distinguished advocate of the 
Anti-Corn-Law League, and from that time to the end of his 
life he labored devotedly for reform. Again and again did 
his voice ring out on the platform and in the House of Com- 
mons in behalf of the poor, the suffering, and the victims of 
unjust legislation. Electoral reform found in him one of its 
most earnest supporters ; and as a member of the Society of 
Friends he hated war and rebuked it on every possible occasion. 
Yet so great was his abhorrence of slavery that he was an 
ardent friend of the American Union when it was imperilled 
by civil conflict. As an orator he possessed uncommon powers, 
and the " lava flow " of his speech often thrilled his audiences 
and filled them with his own enthusiasm. But he never used 
these splendid gifts to further selfish ambition. For two gen- 



314 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book n 

erations he rebuked injustice, shams, and intrigue, and held 
up the noblest ideals of national greatness before his country- 
men. England has had far greater political leaders than he, 
but none that have surpassed him in purity of aim and lofty 
patriotism. He died in London on March 27, 1889. 

In spite of the progressive course which the Conservatives 
pursued under Lord Salisbury, the sentiment of the nation 
seemed to turn toward Mr. Gladstone. Parliament was dis- 
solved in June, 1892, and the Gladstonians gained a victory, 
though by no means a decisive one. In the new House of 
Commons they had a majority of forty-two, so long as the 
Home Rulers voted with them. But the Home Rulers were 
divided. Mr. Parnell died in 1892, after losing much of his 
power and influence through his connection with a disgraceful 
scandal ; and the leadership of the Irish Liberals, even before 
his death, had passed to Mr. Justin McCarthy. But a small 
faction of Home Rulers clung to the memory of their departed 
leader, refused to follow Mr. McCarthy, and called themselves 
Parnellites. Between these two factions much bitter feeling 
existed; and under these circumstances Lord Salisbury did 
not recognize defeat and did not retire from office because of 
the result of the elections. But the Home Rulers, in spite of 
their dissension, combined with the Gladstonians to overthrow 
him. He was forced to resign, and Mr. Gladstone was for the 
fourth time made Prime Minister. He was now eighty-two 
years old; and, though remarkably vigorous, he was bent 
upon accomplishing one thing only before closing his long 
parliamentary career. He wished to crown his services to his 
country by securing Home Rule for Ireland. Accordingly, he 
brought in an elaborate bill to that end in April, 1893. It 
resembled the one he had presented in 1886; but in this second 
bill he allowed the Irish members to sit in the Imperial Par- 
liament and to vote on national as distinguished from Scotch 
and English affairs. The bill passed the Commons after long 
discussion, but was overwhelmingly defeated in the House of 
Lords. It seemed impossible to coerce the Lords, for Mr. 
Gladstone did not really have the English nation behind him. 
A majority of the English and Scotch members of the House 
of Commons were opposed to Home Rule. Hence there was 
no public sentiment that would warrant the creation of new 



RECENT EVENTS 315 



peers in sufficient numbers to pass Mr. Gladstone's bill. Yet 
the political character of the Upper House invited serious 
reflection and called forth much hostile criticism. The peers 
represented a class rather than the nation. They were never 
in sympathy with progressive and liberal legislation, but only 
accepted it as a necessity. The Home Rule Bill was not popu- 
lar with the English people ; still, it had passed the House of 
Commons. In the House of Lords only 41 voted for it, while 
its opponents numbered 419. Such a vote seemed to show that 
the Lords were not in touch with the voters of the nation. A 
reform in the character of the Upper House seemed therefore 
necessary, and was loudly demanded. Yet how to accomplish 
it was a difficult question. The House of Lords has had a 
great and splendid history, and, though it often delays, it never 
thwarts the legislation that is imperatively demanded by the 
nation. Few would be willing to see it abolished, and no one 
can say just how its powers should be curtailed. Hence, in 
spite of severe and frequent criticism, it remains unchanged.^ 

As his majority was small and dependent upon the Home 
Rulers, and as the Lords Avere so thoroughly hostile, Mr. 
Gladstone did not appeal to the country. The question of 
Home Rule was quietly abandoned in spite of the protests of 
the Irish members. That it will soon be revived again in 
Parliament seems improbable. Yet Mr. Gladstone had set the 
English nation an ideal of justice toward Ireland which it 
cannot lose sight of and toward which it will surely grow. 
Not till it has done so will Irish discontent be appeased.'^ 

In March, 1894, Mr. Gladstone resigned, owing to the forma- 
tion of a cataract in his eyes. A successful operation restored 
his sight; but he did not reenter public life. His retirement 
was deeply mourned and was to his party an irreparable loss. 
To choose a successor to him was by no means easy, for no 
other Liberal leader was conspicuous above his colleagues for 
ability and influence. No one else, it was prophesied, could 
maintain the small Liberal majority in the House of Commons. 
A very slight disaffection would result in the defeat of the 

1 For an able defence of the House of Lords, see Pulling's "Life and 
Speeches of Lord Salisbury," II. 223-230. 

2 O'Brien's " Fifty Years of Concession to Ireland " (II. 425) contains this 
significant utterance : " Sufficient measures have not yet been taken to oblit- 
erate the memory of the conquest from their (i.e. the Irish) minds." 



316 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

Government. And the Irish Liberals were already becoming 
discontented; for they thought the Home Rule question was 
not receiving due consideration. It was a discouraging task, 
therefore, that awaited the new Liberal leader; and so Lord 
Eosebery, who was elected to fill the vacant post, found it to 
be. The Queen appointed him Prime Minister; but, being a 
peer, he could not sit in the House of Commons and direct his 
party there. Yet he performed his difficult duties with no 
little skill. For more than a year he kept the Liberals in 
power, and had many useful and progressive measures passed 
through Parliament. Among them was a bill to establish a 
Local Government Board for Scotland ; for the Scotch as well 
as the Irish had become desirous of managing their own affairs. 
But in June, 1895, the Government was defeated on a question 
of army estimates. Lord Rosebery resigned, Lord Salisbury 
was for the third time made Prime Minister, and Parliament 
was dissolved. 

In the elections which followed the Liberals met with a 
most disastrous defeat. Only 177 Gladstonians and 82 Irish 
Liberals were elected, against 340 Conservatives and 71 Liberal 
Unionists. Thus the Conservatives, with the aid of the Lib- 
eral Unionists, had a clear majority of 152. No party had 
won such a sweeping victory since 1832, when the excitement 
over the Reform Bill enabled the Liberals to carry everything 
before them. 

The reasons for the Liberal discomfiture cannot be stated 
with certainty, but apparently the following causes contrib- 
uted to bring it about: (1) Mr. Gladstone's retirement from 
politics and the consequent mistrust of the Liberal policy; 
(2) the increased readiness of the Conservatives to legislate 
in domestic affairs; (3) a growing disposition among the 
British people to love power and dominion, and to regard the 
Conservative party as a means of obtaining it; (4) indiffer- 
ence on the part of the newly enfranchised working-classes to 
the ideals of the Liberal leaders and thinkers.^ 

Lord Salisbury's administration was not in the end success- 
ful. He was not a great leader or a great executive. He 

1 The causes of the apathy of the Liherals and vigor of the Conservatives 
are ably discussed in a London letter to the New York Nation for January 
28, 1897. 



RECENT EVENTS 317 



lacked the energy and the intrepidity which characterized 
Lord Palmerston; he had not the intellectual breadth or the 
moral elevation of Mr. Gladstone. In no direction did he 
show great vigor and ability; and his foreign policy was so 
timid and cautious as to give offence even to his own party. 
He soon found himself confronted with problems of a pecul- 
iarly difficult and delicate character, — problems which would 
have taxed the resources of a statesman of first-rate genius, 
and which proved too formidable for Lord Salisbury's astute 
l3ut halting diplomacy. In handling them he gradually lost 
the confidence of the nation. 

In 1894 and 1895 terrible massacres were perpetrated by the 
Turks in Armenia. At first only vague rumors of these bar- 
barous deeds were circulated, and they were received with 
mistrust. But authentic tidings not only confirmed the first 
reports, but gave revolting details which sent a thrill of indig- 
nation over the whole civilized world. Plainly the Turk was 
at his old game of robbery, indecency, and murder, which he 
had played with delight for centuries. Moreover, it was 
clearly shown that the massacres were planned at the Sultan's 
palace in Constantinople with a view to exterminating the 
unhappy Armenian people, whom the Turks thoroughly detest. 
The more fully the circumstances of the murders were known, 
the more atrocious did they appear. In England they occa- 
sioned great excitement and called forth demands that the 
Government should put a stop to the outrages at any cost. 
Mr. Gladstone appeared in public to lift up his voice once 
more against Turkish iniquity and to denounce the regime at 
Constantinople as the "scandal of the world." But many who 
thoroughly disliked the Turk believed that England ought not 
to act alone or hastily in bringing his barbarities to an end. 
Lord Rosebery was of this opinion, and ultimately he resigned 
the leadership of the Liberal party because he found himself 
out of sympathy with its views upon this question. Lord 
Salisbury himself approached the matter slowly and with an 
apparent sense of powerlessness. At first he declared that 
England could do nothing for the Armenians, and hinted 
vaguely at the need of Turkish reforms. No other power 
seemed able and willing to take the matter in hand, so the 
Turk went on uninterrupted in his wicked work. Thousands 



318 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book n 

more of Armeniaus were butchered in 189G. The prospects 
of this unhappy people seemed dark enough; for even the 
efforts which Lord Salisbury finally made in their behalf were 
showy and pretentious rather than effective. He endeavored 
to bring about a concert of the great European powers against 
the Sultan, and in spite of serious obstacles he succeeded after 
much negotiation. Russia was at first very unwilling to 
threaten the Turk with force; and merely to ply him with 
moral suasion was an utter farce. But the Tsar finally con- 
ceded the point, and by January, 1897, Lord Salisbury had won 
what was at the time considered a considerable diplomatic 
triumph. The Sultan was informed that the bloody work of 
exterminating the Armenians must come to an end, or the 
powers would put a stop to it by armed force. But that the 
Sultan will long be restrained by the menace is not probable. 
He well knows how unwilling the powers would be to carry 
out their threat and to depose him at the risk of exciting fierce 
jealousies, and, possibly, of bringing on a general European 
war. Accordingly, after the lapse of forty years, the folly of 
the Crimean War had received a striking demonstration. By 
sustaining the Turk in 1855, England had made it difficult to 
coerce him in 1897. Yet difficult as was the task, there were 
many Englishmen who did not consider it impossible. There 
were many who agreed with Mr. Gladstone rather than with 
Lord Rosebery and Lord Salisbury, and who claimed that it 
was England's right and duty to enforce the provisions of the 
Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1878. In that Convention, 
arranged at the Berlin Congress (p. 304), Turkey had agreed 
to carry out such reforms as England demanded; and England 
would have been fully justified in compelling the Sultan to 
live up to this agreement. Had she boldly and fearlessly 
taken this stand, there is no likelihood that the great powers 
of Europe would have felt that the Turkish possession of Con- 
stantinople was menaced, and would have ventured to inter- 
fere. The fear of applying force to Turkey and of bringing 
on a gigantic war has become the nightmare of European 
diplomacy. 

In 1896 the British Government was drawn into another 
entanglement with the South African Republic. Rich gold 
mines exist in the territory of this Boer State, and in their 



RECENT EVENTS 319 



vicinity thriving communities have sprung up with wonderful 
rapidity. Yet to the inhabitants of these communities, who 
are largely English and who bear the name of Uitlanders (that 
is, Outlanders), the Boers would grant no political rights what- 
ever. The control of their rich country they desire to keep 
entirely in their own hands, no matter though they become a 
small minority of its population. Naturally this state of 
things was galling to the new settlers. In particular the rich 
and growing city of Johannesburg, in the heart of the mining 
district, was full of malcontents; for its people were heavily 
taxed to support a state which would not give them citizen- 
ship. A conspiracy was therefore framed to overthro-^ the 
Boer Government, and bring the South African Eepublic under 
British rule. The seat of the conspiracy was Johannesburg; 
but it was known to Englishmen of high position in South 
Africa, and possibly to the colonial office in London. Cecil 
Ehodes, Prime Minister of Cape Colony, was privy to it; his 
friend, Dr. Jameson, with the cognizance of Mr. Ehodes, as it 
proved, attempted to bring the conspiracy to a successful ter- 
mination. On December 29, 1895, he entered the South 
African Eepublic with seven hundred men. The Boers, under 
the lead of their President, Paul Kruger, successfully resisted 
the invading force. Dr. Jameson, after losing a large number 
of his followers, was obliged to surrender. President Kruger 
delivered his prisoners to the British authorities for trial and 
punishment; and Dr. Jameson and five of his foremost assist- 
ants were taken to England and there convicted and sentenced 
to imprisonment. Dr. Jameson's term was fifteen months; 
that of the others from ten to five months. But the Boers 
themselves arrested and tried a number of Uitlanders who had 
organized and abetted the conspiracy. Four, including the 
brother of Cecil Ehodes, were condemned to death, and sixty 
others were sentenced to a fine and to imprisonment for two 
years. But President Kruger mitigated all these sentences. 
All of those convicted were finally released on payment of a 
heavy fine. 

One principal offender, however, was still unpunished. 
Cecil Ehodes was beyond qviestion deeply implicated in the 
conspiracy, and President Kruger demanded that the British 
Government should bring him also to justice. It was difficult 



320 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

to resist the demand; even more difficult to comply with it. 
England naturally pi-eferred to use Mr. Rhodes in extending 
her power in South Africa rather than to punish him as a 
criminal. But early in 1897 he sailed to the mother-country 
to meet whatever fate might await him. His fate, however, 
was not an unhappy one. He was received more like a hero 
than a criminal; and the parliamentary committee appointed 
to investigate Dr Jameson's raid was dominated by Mr. 
Rhodes's strong personality, and its proceedings were little 
better than a farce. Certain important cablegrams had passed 
between Mr. Rhodes and others in South Africa and persons 
in England who were in his confidence. But these cable- 
grams the committee of investigation would not call for; nor 
would it follow up any clews that might possibly lead to Mr. 
Chamberlain and the colonial office.^ So its final report, 
which censured no one in high station, commanded no respect. 
Mr. Rhodes returned to South Africa without loss of prestige ; 
the colonial office remained suspected, but not convicted, of 
complicity in the raid. 

But England's operations in Africa at this period were not 
confined to the region of Boers and gold mines. The occupa- 
tion of Egypt (p. 309) finally led to an invasion of the Soudan ; 
for it seemed best to bring this vast tract once more under the 
reign of law and order. The task was rendered more easy by 
the death of the Mahdi, in 1885. His successor had not the 
same influence over the dervishes that the Mahdi himself had 
had; and the English troops penetrated the Soudan and cap- 
tured its strongholds without serious difficulty. 

Hardly less serious, for a brief period more serious, than the 
troubles that arose in South Africa and in Egypt was the diffi- 
culty with the United States over the Venezuela question. 
The boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela had 
never been determined. The British claimed large tracts 

1 Mr. Chamberlain himself appeared before the investigating committee 
and declared in the most positive manner thnt lie had no previous knowledge 
of the raid and no suspicion of it till tlie day before it took place. There 
seems to be no good reason why this statement should not be believed, coming 
as it does from a man of Mr. Chamberlain's position. But that there were 
persons in England who were acquainted with Mr. Rhodes's plans can hardly 
be doubted ; and the production of the cablegrams would have shown who 
they were. 



RECENT EVENTS 321 



which the Venezuelans considered part of their own territory. 
In some of these tracts British citizens had settled in pursu- 
ance of the mining industry; and these lands Great Britain 
was disposed to appropriate, in order to give her own subjects 
ample protection. Against such appropriation Venezuela pro- 
tested; and the United States claimed that Great Britain could 
not set aside Venezuela's protest without violating the Monroe 
Doctrine. The Government of the United States entered into 
long negotiations with the British Government regarding the 
matter; but for some time diplomacy accomplished nothing. 
Lord Salisbury held that the nations of Europe were in no way 
bound to recognize the Monroe Doctrine; and he was thor- 
oughly disinclined to settle the disputed question by arbi- 
tration, as the United States desired. His attitude caused 
President Cleveland to take a bold stand in his message to 
Congress in December, 1895. So defiant was the President's 
tone toward Great Britain that for a short time war between 
the two countries seemed a possibility. But Lord Salisbury, 
always timid in the face of a storm, finally agreed to submit 
the difficulty with Venezuela to arbitration, a satisfactory rule 
of procedure having been devised. It was decided that British 
Guiana should be treated as an individual, and that its claims 
to territory should be determined by the length of time they 
had been allowed to pass without question, as would those of 
an individual in court of law. And not only was this peace- 
able solution of a troublesome question found, but an arbitra- 
tion treaty between Great Britain and the United States was 
formulated. It provided that all disputes between the two 
countries should be settled by a court of arbitration; and if it 
had been adopted, this treaty would have made war, the tra- 
ditional resort of nations that disagree, wellnigh impossible. 
But unfortunately it was rejected by the United States Senate. 
Although this peaceable adjustment of the Venezuela difficulty 
was only accomplished by concessions to the United States, it 
was undoubtedly agreeable to the people of Great Britain ; and 
it subjected the Government to no serious criticism. But new 
troubles arose which had to be faced with courage and consum- 
mate statecraft, and which afforded the Liberals many oppor- 
tunities for faultfinding. In particular, two of the continental 
nations gave England much uneasiness by their aggressive 

Y 



322 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

foreign policy, and threatened her with loss of territory and of 
trade. For France encroached upon Great Britain's African 
domains, and Eussia began to be grasping and dangerous in 
the far East. 

It was in the region of the river Niger that British and 
French interests clashed. France persisted in occupying 
country which Great Britain claimed, and was loath to heed 
the protests of Lord Salisbury's Government. The French 
Government made promises, indeed, that England's rights 
should be respected; but the promises were not kept, and 
French posts were still maintained where England claimed 
sole possession. Hence England's position became difficult 
and embarrassing. It was hardly worth while to go to war over 
the disputed territory; yet where would French aggression end 
if it were not stopped? There was much negotiation between 
the Governments of the two countries over these African diffi- 
culties; and it was finally decided that each of them should 
appoint commissioners to meet in Paris and settle all African 
boundary disputes. The commissioners met, considered care- 
fully the claims of the two nations, and, on June 14, 1898, 
they signed a convention which promised to bring the disputes 
over the Niger region to an end. France was, on the whole, 
the gainer by the agreement, as her West African possessions 
were increased. At the same time Egypt was recognized as a 
British possession; and nearly all of the southern third of the 
continent, from Lake Tanganyika to Cape Town, was consid- 
ered British soil. 

The agreement would have been more satisfactory to the 
British Government if it had provided the means for connect- 
ing Egypt with South Africa. For this is one of England's 
cherished schemes. She has pushed northward from Cape 
Colony and southward through the Soudan; and she would 
fain acquire enough territory in Central Africa to make her 
domains stretch uninterruptedly from the Nile Delta to the 
Cape of Good Hope. This plan has captivated the mind of 
Mr. Cecil Rhodes, who hopes to see these two distant points 
of African territory united by a railroad.^ But the Congo Free 

1 It is possible tliat this ambitious project covers still lars^er designs. Those 
who have studied English diplomacy carefully believe that England never 
loses sight of Constantinople, and that in consolidating her power in and 



RECENT EVENTS 323 



State and the German possessions in East Africa stand in the 
way of the realization of this project; and it conflicts also 
with French territorial schemes. For France desires to make 
her African empire extend from the western to the eastern 
coast; and thus she would occupy the very territory which 
Great Britain needs. Now that the Paris Convention has 
been signed, there may be no further friction ; but before that 
agreement was made, France showed an unmistakable tendency 
to encroach upon England's Central African possessions. On 
September 2, 1898, Sirdar Kitchener annihilated the army of 
the Khalifa at Omdurman, nearly opposite Khartum on the 
Nile, and thus nearly completed the conquest of the Soudan 
(p. 320). But only a day or two after the battle the Sirdar 
received the important news that Fashoda, a point on the river 
about six degrees farther south, was occupied by a force of 
white men. Proceeding southward to investigate, the Sirdar 
found that the white men were a small body of French soldiers 
headed by Major Marchand, who had pushed his way westward 
to this spot from the French Congo. As he had acted under 
instructions. Major Marchand refused to withdraw at the 
Sirdar's request. But his action called forth such vigorous 
protests from Great Britain that the French Government de- 
cided to abandon the post. Accordingly, at a banquet given 
to Lord^ Kitchener by the Lord Mayor of London on Novem- 
ber 5, Lord Salisbury was able to announce that the French 
would shortly evacuate Fashoda. Thus tlie unpleasant inci- 
dent terminated without rupturing the friendship of the two 
nations; but it well typified the spirit of French aggression. 
In Madagascar the French showed scant respect for British 
rights; and the colonists of France manifest a tendency to 
usurp British soil when opportunity offers. 

In the far East Kussia has given England cause for uneasi- 
ness ever since the close of the war between China and Japan. 
That struggle showed so strikingly the weakness of the Chinese 
Empire, that the nations of Europe began to wrest concessions 
and privileges from the tottering Chinese Government. In 

about the Eastern Mediterranean she is preparing for a final move upon the 
Golden Horn. 

1 For his victory at Omdurman, General Kitchener, who had been knighted 
after the taking of Dongola in 1896, was made Baron Kitchener of Khartum. 



324 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

this race for gain Russia played a leading part. First acting 
in concert with France and (xermany, Russia forced Japan to 
give up the Liao-Tung peninsula, which had been ceded to her 
at the termination of the war with China as a part of the spoils 
of victory. This accomplished, Russia next schemed to get 
possession of Port Arthur, on the extremity of this peninsula, 
and thus secure on the Pacific a port not ice-bound in the 
winter. The attempt was successful. On March 27, 1898, 
this important stronghold was ceded to Russia by China; and 
the cession was all the more important because Russia had 
already obtained from China the right to carry the Trans- 
Siberian railway through Manchuria. Indeed, although the 
Russian Government still pressed for every possible concession 
at the Court of Peking, it had obtained what it particularly 
desired. Always pursuing an exclusive policy, Russia is not 
satisfied merely to acquire rights in a country. What it wishes 
is actual annexation and absorption. Consequently, no sooner 
did it obtain privileges in Manchuria than it quietly proceeded 
to possess the country. It introduced its own colonists, the 
region being by no means densely populated,^ and began to 
Russianize the province. Hence, having become practically 
the owner of this rich and fertile country, Russia viewed with 
unconcern the smaller concessions wrested from China by other 
European powers. 

The powers, however, were not inactive. Finding that Russia 
had gained Port Arthur, Great Britain, in order to lessen the 
value of this outlet upon the Pacific, requested China to declare 
Talien-wan, in the vicinity of Port Arthur, a treaty port. 
Failing in this. Great Britain secured the port of Wei-Hai- 
Wei, on a tongue of land over opposite Port Arthur; while 
Germany seized the harbor of Kiao-Chau, farther south on 
the Chinese coast, and France obtained the lease of a bay on 
the southern coast of China and several other substantial 
concessions. 

By obtaining possession of Port Arthur, Russia has become 
a naval power in the far East, and, in case of a war with Great 
Britain, she could advance on India by sea as well as by land. 

1 Manchuria has 362,310 square miles and less than 20,000,000 inhabitants. 
New York State has about one seventh of this area and nearly one third as 
large a population. 



RECENT EVENTS 325 



It thus becomes necessary for England to watch Russia's 
movements with the greatest care ; and that she is doing this 
there is abundant evidence. Moreover, England views with 
concern the attempts of the continental European nations to 
grasp portions of Chinese territory; for all the regions thus 
acquired are likely to be ruled in the interests of the nations 
that possess them, and to be closed to British trade. This 
narrow policy is not pursued by the British Government. Great 
Britain, in acquiring territory, throws it open to other nations 
for purposes of trade; and she has been anxious that, as Chinese 
exclusion is overcome and broken down, the riches of this vast 
country should not become the sole possession of a few grasp- 
ing nations, but should be available to the whole world. This 
enlightened view of international commercial relations is 
termed " the open door " policy ; and very naturally it is held 
by the United States. For until recently the idea of foreign 
conquest and actual possession of far-away lands has not been 
cherished by the American mind. But the continental Euro- 
pean powers are more inclined to the policy of exclusion than 
to that of the open door; and England, which is finding Ger- 
many a formidable commercial rival, considers the question of 
maintaining its foreign trade an all-important one. 

Thus, the eyes of the English people have been directed 
toward remote regions, and domestic politics have been over- 
shadowed by foreign complications. Yet the path of internal 
progress and political reform has not been abandoned, as the 
statute book conclusively shows. It is impossible to enumerate 
here all the important legislative acts that have been passed 
in recent years by the English Parliament ; but a few of them 
may be mentioned, as they serve to show what has already 
been pointed out (p. 312), that the Conservative party has 
become exceedingly active in the cause of reform. The suf- 
frage received further extension in 1897 through a bill which 
gave women owning or renting buildings the right to vote for 
candidates for Parliament. In the same year additional gov- 
ernment aid was granted to elementary education, and compen- 
sation was secured to workingmen who received injury while 
working under certain specified conditions. In the following 
year the statutes regarding criminal evidence were so revised as 
to allow an accused person, and also the wife or husband of that 



326 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book n 

person, to testify for tlie defence ; and local self-government 
was granted to Ireland by an elaborate and carefully framed 
measure. By this act the duties of local government are im- 
posed upon bodies popularly elected, as is the usage in Eng- 
land and Scotland, the franchise being in each case the parlia- 
mentary franchise with the addition of peers and rate-paying 
women. That so radical a measure of relief to Ireland should 
be passed by a Conservative Parliament was a matter of sur- 
prise and an interesting commentary upon the shifts and changes 
of political opinion in a thinking country. Had a Liberal Gov- 
ernment proposed a similar measure a quarter of a century 
earlier, it would have been accused of treason by the Conser- 
vative party. 

It was unfortunate that the great statesman who had done so 
much for Ireland did not live to see his own principles vindi- 
cated by the passage of this just and enlightened measure. It 
was not until July 18, 1898, that the bill passed to its third 
reading; and on May 19 of the same year William Ewart 
Gladstone died at the age of 88. He was buried in Westmin- 
ster Abbey at the request of the House of Commons, and his 
loss was mourned not only by the nation but by the whole civil- 
ized world. A fitting tribute was paid him by Mr. Balfour, 
the Conservative leader of the House of Commons, who pro- 
nounced him "the greatest member of the greatest deliberative 
body which so far the world has seen." 

Important as were the legislative acts above enumerated, 
they did not arouse more interest than a measure appertaining 
to the Established Church which was passed in 1898. This 
measure, which was called the Benefices Act, was aimed to 
rectify abuses in the bestowal of church patronage ; but the dis- 
cussion of it led to a consideration of the extravagant practices 
of the Ritualists. Sir William Harcourt denounced the Ritu- 
alists in the severest terms, declaring that there existed in the 
Church of England a conspiracy to overthrow the pi-inciples of 
the English Reformation ; that priests publicly and secretly 
violated the oaths they had taken ; and that the bishops did 
not discourage the appointment and promotion of such offenders. 

As the Benefices Act was not primarily concerned with the 
q\iestion of ritualistic offences, the accusations of Sir William 
Harcourt were not wholly called for; at the same time they 



CHAP. IV RECENT EVENTS 327 

were a natural expression of existing feeling. For all England 
had become excited over the doings of the Ritualists, who not 
only set the moderate Church party at defiance, but were guilty 
of illegal conduct. The Church of England being an estab- 
lished church, its form of worship is prescribed by law in the 
Book of Common Prayer. But the Ritualists have adopted 
many ecclesiastical practices not authorized by the Book of 
Common Prayer, and in other ways have refused to admit that 
the Church is subject to the civil law. This position they 
maintain in all honesty, and sometimes with entire candor and 
moderation ; ^ but their practices have caused dissension in the 
Church and have roused vehement hostility among the Dissen- 
ters, who.are easily swayed by the English hatred of Catholicism. 
Hence their position has a political bearing, for it has given 
life to the cause of disestablishment. There is no doubt that 
the schism in the Church has weakened it in the eyes of the 
nation ; and many, who fear that its ritualistic tendencies will 
lead its members into the pale of Rome, desire to terminate its 
political existence. But the memories and traditions of four 
centuries will not easily die. The Church of England, with its 
grand historic past, is one of the most splendid and imposing 
institutions of the world. Even the Dissenters recognize its 
power and greatness, and the slow, conservative English temper 
must change essentially before it robs this mighty ecclesiastical 
edifice of the nation's pledged support. 

As the nineteenth century closes, it finds the English nation 
progressive, vigorous, and great. With wise conservatism it 
has wrought reforms without losing its moderation and self- 
control. It has given rights to the many, but it still gives 
leadership to the few. It has recognized the principles of 
democracy, but it has clung to aristocratic usage and tradition. 
Never forgetting that its strength lies in sea-power, it main- 
tains the mightiest navy that the world has ever seen, and 
abides secure against assault upon its island home. Here, then, 
is its seat of dominion and the centre of its wide imperial 
sway. But its sons and daughters seek far lands, increase and 
multiply, and make jungle, hill, and valley echo with the music 
of the Saxon tongue. Beneath their civilizing touch new wil- 

1 " The English Church Union Declaration," in the Contemporary Review 
for April, 1899. 



328 GREAT BRITAIN AND H£R COLONIES book ii 

dernesses blossom into beauty, new nations rise, new institu- 
tions mark the path of progress. And as one Colony after 
another develops its own vigorous life, the power of England 
waxes strong and great. For the peoples of these distant 
countries do not forget their splendid English inheritance, but 
take increasing pride in their connection with the mother-land. 
And thus there is rising up a mighty power whose destiny 
no man can measure or comprehend. The descent of Hengist 
and Horsa upon the isle of Britain laid the foundation of a 
vast political edifice that reaches around the world. Its strength 
lies in its sincerity. The Anglo-Saxon has always built in a 
stern and rugged temper, which respected little besides clear- 
grained human worth. Hence, from the beginning the subject 
met his king as a peer, despised the mere pomp and show of 
power, and stubbornly asserted his rights with the sword when- 
ever those rights were denied. And the result of this strong 
self-assertion was liberty. Through the vicissitudes and the 
rough experiences of a thousand years the English have been 
free men. Respecting authority, they have yet been their own 
masters and have recognized no power that did not spring from 
the people themselves. So the record of the nineteenth century 
merely completes the story of a long and splendid career. It 
shows how the people of England at last came fully into their 
own. 

Great Britain has an area of 120,832 square miles and a 
population of about 38,000,000. The government is a consti- 
tutional monarchy; but the Constitution is unwritten. The 
sovereign appoints the Prime Minister, assembles and dissolves 
Parliament, and without the signature of the sovereign the 
acts of Parliament are not legal. But in all these matters he 
is but the servant of the people and has no will of his own. 
His power of creating peers is unrestricted. 

The Parliament of the nation consists of the House of Lords 
and the House of Commons. All of the English peers sit in 
the House of Lords, and besides them 26 bishops, 16 Scottish 
peers elected for the duration of Parliament, and 28 Irish peers 
elected for life. The presiding officer of the House of Lords 
is the Lord High Chancellor, who is a member of the Cabinet 
and is always appointed for life. 



RECENT EVENTS 329 



The House t)f Commons consists of 670 members. Of these, 
495 represent England, 72 Scotland, and 103 Ireland. The 
only qualification necessary in order to be a member of Parlia- 
ment is to have reached the age of twenty-one. No peers can 
be elected to the House of Commons except those of Ireland. 

No Parliament can sit longer than seven years. At the end 
of that time the House of Commons is necessarily dissolved 
by the sovereign. But the course of events usually brings 
about a dissolution before the term of seven years has expired. 

The executive business of the nation is really performed 
by the Cabinet, though it is nominally vested in the sover- 
eign. One or two Cabinet offices are filled by peers ; the 
rest by members of the House of Commons, who, after re- 
ceiving their appointment, must be reelected by their con- 
stituencies. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church is the established Church 
of England. Theoretically, every Englishman is a member of 
it; but its actual members comprise a little more than half of 
the population, or about 15,000,000. Its annual income is about 
$15,000,000. The sovereign is its supreme head. In Scotland 
the Presbyterian Church is established ; but its connection with 
the government is not close and vital, as it has no bishops to 
sit in the House of Lords and receive their appointment from 
the Crown. England is, in proportion to her population, the 
richest country in the world. Probably her wealth is not less 
than $60,000,000,000. Her chief source of wealth is her man- 
ufactures, which are exported all over the world. And her 
manufacturing interests have owed their prosperity largely to 
her vast supply of coal. Such enormous demands have been 
made upon the supply that the thoughtful minds of the nation 
have already begun to view with concern the time when it 
will be exhausted ; but that time will not come for many years, 
and when it does science will possibly have found a substitute 
for it. The imports of England are even larger than her 
exports, and consist chiefly of food-stuffs. For England is 
too densely populated to produce the needed supplies from 
her own soil. 

The annual expenditure has increased all through the cen- 
tury, and has now reached a total of about $500,000,000. 
Nearly one quarter of this large expenditure is occasioned by 



330 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

the interest charges upon the national debt, which was brought 
to the enormous figure of £861,039,049 (or about $4,300,000,000) 
by the costly Napoleonic wars. But it has been England's 
policy to reduce the debt every year, and in 1899 it amounted 
to not very much more than $3,000,000,000. It "will be con- 
siderably increased, however, by the unfortunate war in South 
Africa. 

Owing to her sea-coast defence, England does not need to 
maintain a large standing army, but trusts to her navy for 
protection and for the maintenance of her power. She has a 
little over 200,000 men under arms, including those who serve 
in India. Her navy is the largest and strongest in the world, 
and she spends much energy and money in keeping it so. 



CHAPTER V 

CANADA 

It was a vast and goodly territory that England acquired by 
Wolfe's victory on the Plains of Abraham in 1759. For, Quebec 
once captured, all Canada fell inevitably into the hands of its 
conquerors ; and Canada has proved to be one of the richest 
countries in the world. Its area is nearly as extensive as that 
of the United States; its mineral and agricultural wealth is 
almost inexhaustible ; its forests will last for centuries. 

But at the close of the Seven Years' War this region was 
sparsely settled and its value was little appreciated. Its in- 
habitants, exclusive of the Indians, did not number much more 
than sixty thousand, and their civilization was of a very primi- 
tive type. Mostly French and half-breeds, they had had no 
training whatever in self-government. Canada had yet to 
acquire the Anglo-Saxon instinct for political development. But 
this instinct was very soon implanted in the minds of her peo- 
ple. The triumph of the American Colonies in their struggle 
with the mother-country secured for Canada a large inflow of 
English-speaking citizens; for the Loyalists, finding their posi- 
tion in the new republic intolerable, emigrated to Canada and 
Nova Scotia. Altogether some thirty thousand of them found 
a new home in these regions, where their loyalty to the Eng- 
lish flag brought them honor instead of insult. And with their 
advent the struggle for responsible government really began. 

And immigrants came also from the mother-country. New 
Brunswick was largely settled by the English; and not less 
than twenty-five thousand Scotch Highlanders found homes in 
Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. Therefore, as the 
population increased, new divisions of the country became 
necessary. New Brunswick and Cape Breton were made sepa- 
rate provinces in 1784, though the latter district was reunited 

331 



332 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

to Nova Scotia in 1820 ; and in 1791 the English Parliament 
passed an act separating Upper and Lower Canada. Each of 
these provinces was allowed its own Governor, Legislative 
Council, and House of Assembly ; and the Governor was 
assisted by an advisory board with executive powers, termed 
the Executive Council. Quebec was made the capital of Lower 
Canada. The capital of Upper Canada was at first Magaia and 
afterward Toronto. Quite a difference there was in the char- 
acter and population of these two provinces, and it was largely 
on that account that the separation was made by the English 
Parliament. For Lower Canada, whose population was almost 
entirely French, had about 125,000 inhabitants; while in 
Upper Canada there were scarcely 20,000 people and these 
were largely English. Thus the English, by being set apart 
in a province of their own, were protected from French control. 

But in the French province, as well as in the English, there was 
a steady growth toward constitutional government. The French, 
though at times disaffected, were on the whole loyal to the Eng- 
lish Government. This the United States more than once found 
to its cost. For in the Revolutionary War, and in the War of 
1812 the Americans invaded Canada with the expectation of 
finding its French inhabitants ready to throw off their alle- 
giance to Great Britain. But in each case they were disappointed. 
None of the French would take the field against their own Gov- 
ernment, and some of them fought side by side with the Eng- 
lish against the American invaders. Thus the Canadian people 
grew one in feeling and interest. They were slowly acquiring 
that national sentiment which is to-day their most striking 
characteristic. 

But it was many years before the Canadas obtained the right 
to manage their own affairs. Although the people were repre- 
sented by an Assembly, the Governor, with the help of the 
Executive and sometimes of the Legislative Council also, usu- 
ally usurped the power. Hence, government was not carried 
on without a good deal of friction ; for both in Upper and in 
Lower Canada appeared popular leaders who m'Side a stubborn 
stand for the rights of the people. Unfortunately, some of 
these leaders were hot-headed and unable to distinguish between 
lawful and revolutionary agitation. Hence, in 1837 there broke 
forth armed rebellion in each of the Canadas ; and the upris- 



CHAP. V CANADA 333 

ing was not immediately suppressed. But the home Govern- 
ment dealt leniently with these outbreaks. The people were 
not made angry and bitter by needlessly harsh treatment; and 
at this time there appeared upon the scene a man whose influ- 
ence mightily furthered the cause of responsible government. 
In 1838 Lord Durham was made Governor-General of Canada. 
Acute, just, and broad-minded, he was not content with merely 
suppressing disaffection. He set himself to ascertaining the 
reasons for it, and the means of bringing it to an end. So he 
invited the Governors of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, New- 
foundland, and Prince Edward Island to meet him at Quebec ; 
and in the course of their conference they considered the ques- 
tion of forming all the provinces of British North America into 
one confederation. The ideas at this time brought forward he 
introduced in a report to Parliament, which was clear, broad, 
and masterly. It recommended that the provinces should be 
brought together by a new legislative vmion, and that the differ- 
ences of race and language should thus be superseded by ques- 
tions of local interest. 

For this momentous change Canada was not quite ready, nor 
did Lord Durham long continue to direct her affairs ; for, owing 
to a disagreement with the home Government, he resigned his 
office after holding it for only six months. But his influence upon 
the destiny of Canada was lasting ; and although many years 
were to pass by before his scheme could be carried out in full, 
it had immediate effect upon the two Canadas. In 1841 these 
two provinces were united into one, and were placed under the 
control of a Governor appointed by the Crown, a Legislative 
Council also chosen by the Crown, and an Assembly of eighty- 
four members elected by the people. There was also an Execu- 
tive Council of eight members whom the Governor selected from 
the Legislative Council and the Assembly. But those appointed 
from the Assembly were, like the members of the English 
Cabinet chosen from the House of Commons, obliged to obtain 
the consent of their constituents by standing again for election. 
Municipal government also received development at this time ; 
for cities and towns were largely intrusted with the manage- 
ment of their own aifairs, instead of being controlled by the 
Legislature. But the growth in this direction was necessarily 
slow. The citizens of Canada were for the most part unaccus* 



334 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

tomed to the New England system of town government ; and 
in some of the provinces the people of the towns were not at 
all anxious to assume the responsibilities of self-government. 
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island were 
notably backward in this branch of political development. 

The capital of the newly constituted province was first 
established at Kingston, but was moved to Montreal in 1844. 
But this city did not long retain the distinction thus con- 
ferred upon it. In 1850 the Parliament buildings were burned 
by some indignant members of the Conservative party who 
were angry with Lord Elgin, the Governor-General. For 
nearly ten years after this disgraceful event the Parliament sat 
alternately at Toronto and Quebec; but in 1858, the Queen 
chose a small village, named Bytown, on the Ottawa River, as 
its permanent site. Taking now the name of Ottawa, the town 
steadily grew through its increased importance, and now has a 
population of fifty thousand. 

Meanwhile, nearly all the provinces of Canada had been 
growing in population, in prosperity, and in institutional life. 
In 1848, responsible government was adopted in New Bruns- 
wick and Nova Scotia ; and in 1854 reciprocity in trade was 
established between Canada and the United States. Thus, 
developing in every direction, Canada was becoming ready for 
the next momentous step in her history, that of confederation. 
The various provinces could not indeed remain separate. For 
a hundred years they had been passing through a like experi- 
ence, and under English law had been acquiring the English 
love of constitutional liberty. That their destinies should now 
be united seemed, therefore, the logical outcome of events. 
And in 1867, hardly more than a century after the signing of 
the Peace of Paris, the union which had been recommended by 
Lord Durham became an accomplished fact. A conference met 
at Quebec on October 10, 1864, to consider the question of con- 
federation, and to it all the different provinces, including New- 
foundland, sent delegates. After eighteen days of discussion 
it adopted seventy -two resolutions which were at once accepted 
by the two Canadas, and, after some hesitation, by New Bruns- 
wick and Nova Scotia. Newfoundland rejected them, and 
still remains outside the Confederation. Prince Edward Island 
was unwilling to approve them at the time ; but in the course 



CHAP. V CANADA 335 

of a few years it abandoned its independent attitude and joined 
the union. The Confederation thus formed was called the 
Dominion of Canada; and the two provinces of Upper and 
Lower Canada were termed, respectively, Ontario and Quebec. 
The British Parliament endorsed the seventy-two resolutions 
after they had been approved by the provinces, and incor- 
porated most of them in the British North America Act, which 
established the Confederation and which gives to Canada a 
written Constitution. For, in uniting, the provinces were 
obliged to imitate the example of the United States, and base 
their union upon a written compact instead of depending 
upon usage and tradition, like the mother-country. But it is to 
be noticed that the Canadians did not model their Constitution 
upon that of the United States. In the most important par- 
ticulars they made it embody English political usage, as will 
easily be made apparent by a brief statement of its principal 
features. 

I. The executive power is vested in the Crown, which is 
represented by a Governor-General appointed for five years. 
This official has full power over the army and navy, and he can 
give the royal assent to bills passed by the Legislature, withhold 
it, or reserve it for the signification of the royal pleasure. In the 
latter case the bill has no force unless the Governor-General 
signifies the royal assent to it within two years from the day it 
was presented to him. Even when the Governor-General gives 
the royal assent to a bill, the act can be annulled by the English 
sovereign in Council any time within two years after it has been 
received by the royal Secretary of State. The Governor-Gen- 
eral also has the power of appointing the Lieutenant-Governors 
of the different provinces. He is assisted by a Council, which 
he himself appoints and which he has power to remove. 

II. The legislative power is vested in a Senate and a House 
of Commons. The members of the Senate are appointed for 
life by the Governor-General, and their number is not to 
exceed seventy-eight. But these seventy-eight members are 
not equally distributed among the several provinces ; for 
Ontario and Quebec are represented by twenty-four each, Nova 
Scotia and New Brunswick by ten each. Prince Edward Island 
by four, and British Columbia and Manitoba by three each. 
Moreover, the relations of the Senate and the House of Com- 



336 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 



mons, do not closely resemble those of the Senate and the 
House of Representatives in the United States, but are deter- 
mined by the rules and traditions that govern the two English 
Houses of Parliament. The members of the House of Com- 
mons are elected by the people for five years. But the Gov- 
ernor-General can dissolve the House whenever he sees fit. 
The House has power to originate all bills for the appropriation 
of revenue or for imposing taxes, but only for purposes that 
have been recommended by the Governor-General. 

III. Exclusive powers are given to the provincial legislatures 
in regard to many matters wherein the States of the American 
Union likewise have sovereign authority. But the United States 
Constitution does not define or enumerate these powers ; it sim- 
ply grants to each State, in virtue of its sovereignty, all those 
powers that are not exclusively delegated to the Federal Govern- 
ment. In the Dominion Constitution, on the other hand, the 
powers of the provinces as well as those of the Federal Parlia- 
ment are expressly named, in order that conflicts between the 
central authority and the individual members of the Confeder- 
ation may, so far as possible, be avoided. For the Canadians 
did not wish to see the question of state rights cause those 
grave disturbances that had imperilled the permanence of the 
American Union. It is to be further noticed that the powers 
of the provinces are not as extensive as those of the States of 
the Republic. The Governor-General not only appoints the 
Lieutenant-Governors of the provinces, as already stated, but 
removes them for cause when he so pleases. The provinces, 
moreover, do not have their own courts corresponding to the 
State courts in the United States, nor can they determine the 
salaries of lieutenant-governors and judges, as that is done by 
the Parliament of the Dominion. Nor do the provincial legis- 
latures have absolute control over education ; for denominational 
schools are specially protected by the Constitution. 

IV. As has just been stated, the courts that are established 
throughout the Dominion are not controlled by the provinces ; 
for the judges of the superior, district, and county courts are 
appointed for the most part by the Governor-General, and can 
be removed by him when he is so petitioned by the Parliament 
of the Dominion. But neither are the courts of Canada 
federal courts, as the word " federal " is understood in the United 



CHAP. V CANADA 337 

States. For only two of them, the Supreme Court of Canada 
and the Exchequer Court at Ottawa, have a jurisdiction that is 
limited to federal as distinguished from local or provincial 
affairs. And not even these courts have the right of interpret- 
ing the Constitution and the legality of legislation which is 
possessed by the Supreme Bench of the United States. For 
there is no provision in the Constitution that interferes with 
the English sovereign's prerogative right to hear appeals from 
colonial courts before the Judicial Committee of the Privy 
Council. Accordingly, disputed questions regarding the Con- 
stitution have from time to time been brought before the 
Council, and have been decided by some of the ablest jurists 
in England, greatly to Canada's benefit. 

Now this scheme of government, when carefully studied, is 
seen to contain nearly everything that is vital to the English 
representative system. The Governor-General represents the 
Crown, and appoints the Premier, the colonial term for Prime 
Minister, who holds his office only so long as he can command 
a parliamentary majority. If he loses the confidence of his 
party, or if his party goes out of power, he resigns, and the 
one who best represents the dominant party is appointed in his 
place. By this usage the legislative branch of government 
and the executive, that is, the Premier, are always kept in 
sympathy; while in the United States the President often 
finds himself confronted by a hostile majority in Congress 
because his party has been defeated at the polls before his 
term of office expired. Thus it appears that the executive 
more truly represents the people in England and Canada than 
he does in the United States. And in other respects the 
Canadian system, showing as it does the English deference 
to the Crown and to official authority, protects the interests of 
the public and secures a pure and efficient administration of 
affairs. Important measures of legislation originate from the 
Ministry, and not, as in the United States Congress, from 
committees who are frequently the mere mouthpiece of the 
lobby. The civil service is, as in England, conducted on 
purely business principles, instead of being used to bestow 
rewards on zealous partisans. Even the Speaker of the House 
of Commons is expected to treat his political opponents with 
impartial justice. Moreover, party interests are kept out 



338 GREAT BKITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

of city politics, to the great advantage of clean and honest 
government.* 

For all these reasons the thoughtful people of Canada are 
well satisfied with their system of government, and do not 
care to join their fortunes with those of the great neighboring 
republic. Yet this is a fact which the government and people 
of the United States have been very slow to recognize. The 
dislike for England which is so common in America inclines 
its citizens to think that the Canadians cannot help desiring 
annexation to the United States rather than continued subjec- 
tion to Great Britain. Hence, the policy of the American 
government toward Canada has not been wholly wise. It has 
been shaped with reference to bringing about annexation, in- 
stead of encouraging the fullest and freest commercial relations 
with a neighboring people that is reasonably sure to have a 
different destiny. Nor have the Canadians always showed a 
friendly spirit toward the United States. Consequently, fre- 
quent misunderstandings and antagonisms have arisen between 
the two peoples. During the American Civil War many 
Canadians exasperated the North by showing an active sym- 
pathy with the Confederate cause. Partly through resentment 
at this conduct and partly through sympathy with the doctrines 
of protection, the United States Congress decided in 1864 to 
bring the reciprocity treaty to an end. That this action was 
unfortunate for Canada cannot be denied ; that it was equally 
unfortunate for the United States is believed by the opponents 
of protection. 

Yet, notwithstanding the interruption to free commercial 
intercourse with the United States, the Dominion of Canada 
grew and prospered under its new Constitiftion. At the time 
when the Union was accomplished the population of Canada 
was not much above 3,000,000. As the end of the century 
approaches, the inhabitants of the country number over 
5,000,000, and show many signs of vigorous and progressive 
life. Since the Confederation was established, not only Prince 
Edward Island, but the provinces of Manitoba, Keewatin, Assin- 

1 For a comparison of the American and the Canadian systems consult the 
introductory chapter of A. H. F. Lefroy's "The Law of Legislative Power in 
Canada"; also an excellent paper by J. S. Bourinot on Parliamentary Gov- 
ernment in Canada, in the Annual Report of the American Historical Associa- 
tion for 1891, particularly pp. 368 et seq. 



CHAP. V CANADA 339 

iboia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Athabasca, and British Columbia 
have been added to it. These western provinces have for the 
most part been formed out of land obtained from the Hudson 
Bay Company. That powerful Company long clung jealously 
to its vast territories, and, desiring to use them solely as a 
source of fur supply, it resisted all attempts to develop their 
agricultural and mineral resources. But in 1869 it surrendered 
them to the Crown for the sum of $1,500,000 ; retaining at the 
same time certain special rights and privileges. Thus some of 
the richest and most fertile tracts in the world were opened to 
civilization, and are slowly becoming populated. But not with- 
out difficulty were they reclaimed from the semi-barbarous life 
that prevailed under the regime of the Hudson Bay Company. 
Their population of half-breeds and Indians resisted the advance 
of law and order, and had to be suppressed by armed force. 
Louis Riel, who had a mixture of Indian blood in his veins, 
though his father was a white, stirred up a rebellion in the 
Eed River region in 1870 ; and under this same leader a far 
more formidable outbreak occurred in the Saskatchewan dis- 
trict in 1885. In this second uprising the Canadian troops met 
with one or two severe reverses. The people of Canada became 
exasperated with the man who caused such needless bloodshed ; 
and, when finally the rebellion was crushed, Riel was tried for 
treason and executed.^ 

There have been in Canada, as in the United States, two 
leading political parties, but their historical development haa 
not been the same in the two countries. In the United States 
the two opposing principles of centralization and state rights 
came into conflict immediately after the Constitution was 
adopted, and they dominated the political field for more than 
half a century. In Canada there have been indeed those who 
were for and those who were against Confederation ; but the 
powers of the central Government could not be questioned as 
they have been in the United States, for those powers are 
determined by the Crown through the English Parliament. So 
the only questions on which the two parties could divide have 
been those of progress and financial policy. The Conservatives 
have been averse to radical measures of reform, and have reso- 

1 The rebellion headed by Riel and the legality of his sentence are discussed 

in the Political Science Quarterly, 2 : 135. 



340 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

lutely clung to the policy of protection ; the Liberals are in 
favor of free trade and of more liberal and progressive meas- 
ures in politics and education. But the latter have had little 
opportunity to carry out their ideas ; for, with the exception of 
one period of five years' duration, the Conservatives were in 
power from 1867 until 1896. Their leader during most of this 
time was Sir John Macdonald, a shrewd, ambitious man, who 
sometimes resorted to unscrupulous methods to advance the 
interests of his party. ^ Yet he had great ability, and that he 
conferred upon Canada many substantial benefits can hardly be 
denied. 

Some important questions came up for consideration during 
his administration of affairs. The Canadian Pacific Railroad 
was first projected in 1871, and, not without causing some 
political scandals, was finally completed in 1885. It was a 
charge of corrupt use of power in furthering this enterprise 
that caused Macdonald to resign in 1879 ; and in his further 
dealings with the railroad corporation he showed a most rep- 
rehensible carelessness of the public interests, even though 
dishonesty could not be charged against him. The growth of 
the tracts along the road has been greatly retarded by the 
unwise grants that were made to this corporation.^ 

Protection became a living issue in 1878. At that time there 
was a depression in trade and business, and to secure the vic- 
tory of their party the Conservatives advocated a protective 
.policy. They promised better times if they were elected ; the 
people, in their desire for prosperity, believed them ; and the 
elections gave them a handsome majority. True to their prom- 
ises, the Conservatives, under the lead of Sir John Macdonald, 
began to tax imports in order to encourage home manufactures. 
As a result the manufacturers flourished, and insisted that the 
duties should be retained and even increased. That Sir John 
Macdonald met them before every election and granted their 
demands was one of the well-known facts of Canadian politics. 
But whether Canada has prospered by adopting the policy of 
protection is doubtful. The Conservatives honestly believe 
that this course has been beneficial to the country; but the 

1 Westminster Review, 137 : 478. 

2 Alternate blocks a mile long were given to the railroad all along its route. 
—Ibid. 



CHAP. V CANADA 341 

Liberals claim that protection has checked commercial growth, 
and caused a million people to leave Canada on account of the 
stagnation in business. Between these contradictory claims 
every one will decide according to his economic convictions. 

Very early after Macdonald's rise to power the fisheries 
question began to give trouble. Although the American fisher- 
men lost their unrestricted rights to fish in Canadian waters 
when the reciprocity treaty was terminated in 1866, they 
regained them in 1871 ; for in the Treaty of Washington 
reciprocity in regard to the fisheries and their products was 
established, the United States agreeing to pay Canada for the 
privileges conceded. For in the matter of fisheries reciprocity 
was worth much more to the United States than to Canada. 
But how large a sum should be paid Avas not determined by 
the treaty, and it was through the energies of the Liberal 
Premier, Alexander Mackenzie, that a commission was ap- 
pointed in 1877 to fix the amount of the compensation. The 
commission decided that the sum should be f 5,500,000. This 
amount the United States paid; but, deeming the award ex- 
cessive, it gave notice that it desired the termination of the 
reciprocity agreement, which accordingly came to an end on 
July 1, 1885. So Americans could now fish in Canadian 
waters only in accordance with the Treaty of 1818. But the 
meaning of some terms in this treaty was disputed, and trouble 
consequently arose. The Americans claimed privileges which 
the Canadians, supported by England, were unwilling to allow.^ 
In particular, American fishermen believed that they had the 
right to purchase bait and to enter bays more than six miles 
wide ; but in living up to this belief they met with disaster. 
Their vessels were captured by Canadian cruisers and fined by 
Canadian authorities. Whether or not this action was justifi- 
able, it caiised great indignation in the United States ; and to 
settle all disputed points in regard to the fisheries, an inter- 
national commission was appointed by Great Britain and the 
United States in 1887. But the United States refused to 
ratify the agreement made by the commission, and the fish- 
eries question remained as a menace to good feeling. 

Nor was the understanding between Canada and the United 
States made better by the dispute over the Bering Sea seal fish- 
1 The Forum, 4 : 349. 



342 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

eries. The Canadians persisted in the practice of pelagic seal- 
ing, which tends to exterminate the seals by destroying them 
when they are with young. To put a stop to this practice, the 
Americans seized several Canadian sealing vessels in Bering Sea, 
claiming that the waters within sixty miles of the coast of Alaska 
were, by rights long since established when Russia owned the 
territory, under the control of the United States. This claim 
was disallowed by a court of arbitration which met at Paris in 
1893 ; but to prevent the extermination of the seals the court 
advised against killing them from May 1 to July 21. This 
recommendation was adopted by Great Britain and the United 
States, and was enforced by cruisers of both countries. But 
pelagic sealing still went on, for Great Britain, through fear 
of offending Canada, refused to join with the United States in 
stopping it. Hence the seals were in danger of extermination, 
and the United States became anxious for a reopening of the 
question. After an extensive diplomatic correspondence the 
Governments of Great Britain and the United States agreed 
that experts, representing both countries, should meet and 
thoroughly consider the important points at issue. Experts 
were accordingly appointed, and met at Washington in October, 
1897. They agreed that the number of the seals was diminish- 
ing, and that pelagic sealing was largely responsible for the 
decrease, although the herd was not in danger of extermina- 
tion provided the numbers killed on land were not excessive. 
The experts also found that the death-rate among females and 
pups was great because of indiscriminate sea-killing. 

But while the representatives of the two countries could 
agree upon essential facts, they found it impossible to adopt 
the same views of international policy. Mr. J. W. Foster, one 
of the American experts, proposed on behalf of the United 
States Government that the Canadian sealers should abstain 
from pelagic sealing for a year, and that the United States 
should prevent the killing of seals on the Pribiloff Islands, 
where the seals give birth to their young, for the same length 
of time. But the Canadian Government refused to consent to 
this proposal, which it considered prejudicial to the interests 
of the Canadian sealers, and the practice of pelagic sealing was 
still continued. The failure of the Anglo-American Commis- 
sion to settle this question is elsewhere recorded ; and owing 



CHAP. V CANADA 343 

to the unwillingness of the Canadians to abandon pelagic seal- 
ing, a satisfactory adjustment of this long-standing dijBBculty 
cannot be easily devised. 

The year 1896 was an important one in Canadian annals, as 
it marked the advent of the Liberal party to power. By the 
general elections which were held in that year, 118 Liberals 
were returned to the House of Commons against 86 Conserva- 
tives and 8 Independents. This victory was in some measure 
due to the personal popularity of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the 
leader of the Liberal party. A French Canadian and a 
Catholic, Sir Wilfrid had gained the confidence of the Eng- 
lish Liberals in Canada by his ability and his rare personal 
integrity. As leader of the victorious party he was now 
made Premier, and he courageously faced the difficult prob- 
lems that demanded solution. 

Of these problems none was more perplexing than the Mani- 
toba school question. Until May, 1890, the Roman Catholics 
of Manitoba had had separate schools ; but by an act passed in 
that year by the legislature of the Province this privilege was 
taken from them. As they claimed that this act was illegal, 
and deprived them of a right that was guaranteed by the Con- 
stitution of the Dominion, the matter came inevitably before 
the Dominion Parliament. But as the Catholics and the 
remaining population of Manitoba were equally obstinate, it 
had been found impossible to settle the difficulty. Sir Wilfrid 
Laurier's position in the matter was a trying one, for as a 
Catholic he was expected to sustain his own church, while as 
a Liberal he must recognize the essential justice of the action 
of the Manitoba Legislature. Por the Catholics in Manitoba 
were so few in numbers that the expense of maintaining sepa- 
rate schools for them was unreasonably heavy. But the 
Premier showed much tact and adroitness, as well as a strong 
sense of justice in meeting the situation, and found a fairly 
satisfactory solution of the problem. It was arranged that all 
schools should be under governmental control, and that educa- 
tional work should be secular until the last half-hour of the 
school day, when representatives of any religious bodies should 
come in and instruct the children of their own denominations, 
providing the parents were willing to have them remain. 
Moreover, a Catholic teacher, fully qualified according to 



3i4 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

national or provincial educational standards, was to be pro- 
vided for every school that had an average attendance of 
twenty-five Roman Catholic children. 

The financial situation was also a difficult one. As a Liberal, 
Sir Wilfrid Laurier was pledged to a free trade policy ; but the 
country had so long been accustomed to a protective tariff that 
duties could not be suddenly and materially lowered without 
seriously disturbing trade and commerce. The Government 
accordingly decided not to make a general and sweeping reduc- 
tion in the duties ; at the same time it adopted a policy that 
was in keeping with Liberal principles. On April 22, 1897, Mr. 
W. S. Fielding, the Minister of Finance, delivered his Budget 
speech and stated that the Government had decided to free 
the tariff from some objectionable specific duties, but in other 
respects to maintain it as it was with all countries that would 
not grant reciprocity; but to establish a preferential tariff 
which would apply at once to Great Britain, and afterward to 
any country that would grant reciprocal terms to Canadian 
products. 

This tariff was adopted by the House of Commons and 
gave great satisfaction to Great Britain, where Sir Wilfrid 
Laurier was enthusiastically received on the occasion of the 
Queen's Diamond Jubilee in the summer of 1897. All of the 
Premiers of England's self-governing Colonies were present at 
the Jubilee ; none received such marked attention as Sir Wil- 
frid Laurier. As the head of Great Britain's largest and rich- 
est territorial possession, he played a prominent part in the 
conferences that were then held over the great question of 
Imperial Federation.^ If such a federation could be organ- 
ized, Canada, next to Great Britain, would be its most impor- 
tant member and contribute most to its strength. Yet not even 
Canada, it was to be noticed, was looked upon as a nation. For, 
great as was the respect shown to the Colonial Premiers, their 

iThe advantages and the desirability of federation were carefully con- 
sidered in these conferences, but the difficulties of the problem were not 
ignored, and no settled plan of organization was arranged. An imperial par- 
liament was advocated by some, while others considered a parliament imprac- 
ticable and were in favor of an imperial council. The English papers of the 
period contain many interesting discussions of the question. Consult the 
Times, the Speaker, the Spectator, and the Saturday Review for the latter part 
of June and the earlier part of July, 1897. 



CHAP. V CANADA 345 

claim to represent nations rather than subject Colonies was not 
allowed. 

A more difficult task than any other which Sir Wilfrid 
Laurier has attempted is that of securing free commercial 
intercourse with the United States. Contiguous as the two 
countries are, inhabited by peoples that speak the same lan- 
guage, and separated for the most part by a merely artificial 
frontier, they could hardly fail to benefit by an extensive inter- 
change of their products. But as Canada greatly needs the 
manufactured wares of the United States, while the United 
States, on the other hand, is well supplied with nearly all those 
things that Canada produces, the American manufacturers are 
very loath to see reciprocity established between the two coun- 
tries. Their view of the question prevails in the United States ; 
but that it is an enlightened and patriotic view may well be 
questioned. If reciprocity existed, America could draw freely 
upon the Canadian supplies of coal and lumber, and could 
thus delay the destruction of its forests and the exhaustion of 
its mines. Accordingly, in presenting the Canadian side of 
this important question, Sir Wilfrid Laurier may perform a 
valuable service to the American people. 

Newfoundland 

Not having become a part of the Dominion of Canada, New- 
foundland calls for a brief separate mention. The island was 
discovered in 1497 by John Cabot, and the value of its fisheries 
soon became known. In 1583 Sir Humphrey Gilbert took formal 
possession of the island for Queen Elizabeth ; but the French 
also laid claim to it, and it was not till the Treaty of Utrecht 
was agreed upon in 1713 that the dispute between the two 
countries was settled. By the Treaty of Utrecht the island was 
ceded to England, but the right to fish and to cure fish on the 
northern coast was granted to the French. In ] 783, however, 
the western coast, from Cape St. John to Cape Ray, instead of the 
northern, was assigned them for this purpose. But the conces- 
sion was an unfortunate one, for it led to continual disputes 
and retarded the development of that portion of the island. 
Even at the present day the grievance continues, and the 
French Shore Question has become an important issue in New- 



346 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

foundland politics. In 1898 the matter was still giving so 
much trouble that delegates were sent to England to secure the 
appointment of a royal commission, which should investigate 
the condition of the Colony and in particular inquire into 
the French treaty rights upon the west shore. In accordance 
with this request commissioners were appointed by the home 
Government. 

Representative government was granted to Newfoundland by 
the British Parliament in 1832. Household suffrage was at 
that time established, but in 1887 the franchise was extended 
to all male adults. The Executive consists of a Governor, 
appointed by the Crown, and an Executive Council which must 
not exceed seven members. The legislative branch of the 
government is composed 'of a Legislative Council, whose mem- 
bers are appointed by the Governor and are not to exceed fif- 
teen; and a House of Assembly of thirty-six members, who are 
elected for four years. Education is imder the control of the 
different religious bodies and is not free. The island has an^ 
area of 42,200 square miles and a population of about 200,000. 



CHAPTER VI 

AUSTRALIA 

The island, or fifth continent, Australia, seems to have been 
discovered by the Portuguese in the earlier part of the fifteenth 
century. Terra Australis it is designated on the maps of that 
period, and hence the name Australia. In the following cen- 
tury it was several times reached by Dutch navigators, one of 
whom, Tasman, discovered in 1642 the island which bears his 
name ; and the English buccaneer, Dampier, visited the north- 
ern coast of Australia in 1688. But no attempt was made to 
colonize this island-continent till the English began to send 
convicts to its shores shortly after they were deprived of their 
American Colonies by the Revolution. Their attention was 
turned to this vast and unused tract by the celebrated voyager. 
Captain Cook. He conducted a scientific expedition to its 
eastern shore in 1769, and reported favorably upon its capaci- 
ties. So in 1787 a fleet of eleven vessels, containing 696 con- 
victs, was sent to this unexplored and far-away island ; and on 
January 26, 1788, the expedition landed near the spot where 
stands the city of Sydney. 

Erom this inauspicious beginning grew the rich and splendid 
civilization of Australia. For many years the country was 
used almost entirely as a receptacle for criminals ; but some 
free settlers also found their way there, and in 1839 the prac- 
tice of transporting criminals to Australia was abandoned. 
Meanwhile the country was explored, and many new settle- 
ments were made. Thus, gradually, as the population increased 
and spread, a number of separate provinces were established. 
The original province where the convicts were transported was 
termed New South Wales, because its shores were supposed to 
resemble the southern shores of Wales. Tasmania was occu- 
pied in 1803, and, like the elder province, was at first used as 

347 



348 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

a penal settlement. For a number of years it was under the 
control of New South Wales ; but in 1825 it was made a sepa- 
rate province. A convict station was established in Western 
Australia in 1825. Other settlements were made in the western 
district not long afterward, and this province was organized by 
1829. This western tract, however, was destined to remain, for 
a long time, undeveloped and thinly populated; while the 
eastern portion of the island had a far more fortunate history. 
For explorations made in 1813 showed that in the interior of 
New South Wales, beyond the Blue Mountains, lay perhaps 
the finest sheep pastures in the world. This discovery led to 
a rapid settlement of the province, and, as its fast increasing 
population pushed onward, it was found that the same magnifi- 
cent resources were possessed by the adjoining regions. Vic- 
toria was settled in 1836 ; and a company was established in 
South Australia at about the same time. But Victoria did not 
become a distinct province until 1851, though it received its 
name some ten years earlier ; and Queensland had no inde- 
pendent existence until 1859, but up to that date was simply 
a portion of New South Wales. 

Though the growth of Western Australia was extremely 
slow. South Australia and New South Wales (including then 
Victoria and Queensland) gained rapidly in wealth and popula- 
tion. The sheep downs of these provinces were so favorable 
to raising sheep that Australi9,n wool soon gained a reputation 
the world over for the fineness of its quality, and was in 
demand in all manufacturing countries. So the sheep owners 
grew rich and their numbers multiplied. By the middle of the 
century Australia had a population of over 300,000 ; but after 
the discovery of mineral wealth the increase was far more 
rapid. Copper was found in South Australia in 1842, and the 
mining of that article began to be an important industry. But 
this addition to the resources of the country awakened no wide- 
spread interest. It was the discovery of gold in 1851 that 
created wild excitement among the inhabitants and brought im- 
migrants to Australia in crowds. The discovery was made in 
New South Wales, but rich mines were also found to exist in 
Victoria, and in the portion of New South Wales that became 
the province of Queensland. So Australia began to attract the 
attention of the whole civilized world. Her resources were 



AUSTRALIA 349 



rapidly developed. Her products multiplied. Her export and 
import trade grew steadily in volume. In 1871 her population 
had increased to 1,500,000; in 1891 it had risen to over 
3,000,000, and it is nearly 5,000,000 at the close of the cen- 
tury. The largest city of the country is Melbourne, in Victoria, 
with a population of over half a million; but Sydney, in 
New South Wales, is a formidable rival, not being much 
inferior in size and population, and having in its university 
the most imposing building in Australia. 

Since 1851 the mining industry has been of prime impor- 
tance. Not only gold and copper, but silver, lead, tin, and coal 
have been mined in large quantities and exported to Great 
Britain and other countries. As a gold-producing country 
Australia has for many years ranked second only to the United 
States, and the supply is by no means exhausted. It is prob- 
able that for a long time to come the gold fields of Australia 
will be one of the chief sources for the supply of this precious 
metal, though their yearly output is now greatly surpassed by 
that of South Africa. But rich as are the mines of Australia, 
they do not yield as great a revenue as that derived from the 
soil. The yearly return from wool, tallow, hides, frozen and 
salted meats, sugar, fruits, timber, pearls and pearl shells, is 
enormous. In the year 1895 the total value of the exjiorts 
was nearly $300,000,000. Yet the country is still very sparsely 
settled and its immense resources are most imperfectly devel- 
oped. Though larger than the United States without Alaska, 
it has not a tenth of the population of the latter country, and 
some of its richest and most fertile tracts are almost unknown 
and unvisited. Particularly is this true of Western Australia. 
This province, which is much larger than any of the others, 
has as yet less than 100,000 inhabitants ; yet its resources are 
pronounced equal to those of South Australia, Queensland, or 
New South Wales. ^ Its gold fields are among the richest in 
Australia, and its fertile regions, though interspersed with 
stretches of desert, are equal to those of the more populous 
provinces. Hence the population of Australia is sure to grow 
rapidly, and the volume of its import and export trade must 
steadily increase. Not indeed that the country can escape finan- 
cial reverses. It has had them in the past ; it will certainly 
1 Westminster Review, 137: 482 et seq. 



350 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

have them in the future. It is frequently afflicted by droughts, 
and from this cause, or from other unfavorable conditions, 
arise panics, failures, and stringency in the money market. In 
1842 the prosperity of Kew South Wales was suddenly inter- 
rupted by a financial crash resulting from reckless speculation 
and inflated prices. A more widespread depression was expe- 
rienced in 1893, which profoundly affected all the Australian 
Colonies. Arising in part from an excessively free use of the 
credit system, it caused a number of banks to close their doors 
for a time, occasioned a general feeling of insecurity, and 
injured the financial standing of the whole country. The debt 
of Australia is very large, amounting to about $1,000,000,000, 
which seems an enormous sum for a people numbering five 
millions to owe. This indebtedness was by some considered 
to be largely the cause of Australia's financial collapse, and 
called forth attacks upon her credit and prophecies that 
greater troubles and possible bankruptcy were in store for her. 
But it was shown by those thoroughly acquainted with her 
financial system that the large amount of the public debt was 
due to peculiar conditions, and could not be fairly judged by 
the ordinary principles that govern state finance.^ More than 
half the sums borrowed by the Australian Colonies have been 
expended on railways, without which the commerce of so thinly 
settled a country could never have been developed. It is not 
to be forgotten, moreover, that Australia is a very wealthy 
country, even if its population is still small. In its gold mines 
and its sheep it has almost inexhaustible resources, and it is 
therefore warranted in spending freely, because its income is 
so great. There is every reason to believe that it will carry 
its burden of debt without feeling impoverished, and will 
eventually free itself from encumbrance. 

The political development of Australia has been commensu- 
rate with its material prosperity. Its various provinces were 
originally ruled by Governors appointed by the English Crown, 
and the power of these officials was practically unlimited. But 
the growth of the country was almost steadily toward democ- 
racy. Its settlers brought with them from Great Britain the 
Anglo-Saxon love of freedom ; and the conditions of life that 

1 " The Attack on the Credit of Australia," The Nineteenth Century ^ 
April, 1892. 



AUSTRALIA 351 



prevailed in this new land, where each man was dependent for 
success upon his own energy and exertions, encouraged equality. 
One brief attempt was indeed made to resist these levelling 
tendencies. In South Australia and Victoria the first settle- 
ments were made in accordance with the system of Edward 
Gibbon Wakefield, who believed that the social distinctions 
which are made in England should be rigidly preserved. But 
the plan of life he devised for this new and unsettled region 
proved wholly artificial and resulted in failure. The democratic 
tendencies of the settlers were too strong to be resisted and 
had their way. And naturally they showed themselves in the 
wish for representative government. As early as 1824 the 
Governor of New South Wales allowed a small body of men to 
confer with him in regard to the administration of affairs, and 
this body was termed the Executive Council. So successful 
was this arrangement that in 1829 the number of the body was 
enlarged to fifteen ; its name was changed to Legislative Coun- 
cil, and with the Governor it made laws for the Colony. It was 
not, indeed, a perfect representative body. It was not chosen 
by the suffrages of the people, and its decisions could be set 
aside by the Governor. Yet its creation marks the beginning 
of the movement which resulted in democratic and constitu- 
tional government. But as the population of the Colony 
increased, the desire for representation gained strength and 
found expression. The friends of the movement met at Sydney 
in 1842 and resolved to petition the British Parliament for a 
voice in the management of their affairs.- Their petition was 
granted. A new Legislative Council was created, twenty-four 
of whose members were to be chosen by the people, while the 
remaining twelve took their seats by right of office or through 
appointment by the Governor. In 1843 the first popular elec- 
tion ever known in Australia was held, and the Council met at 
Sydney in the same year. 

With this imperfect system of representative government 
the Colony remained satisfied for a period of ten years. But 
the discovery of gold in Australia in 1851 had an important 
effect upon the political development of the country. Its pop- 
ulation grew rapidly ; disorders occurred at the gold fields ; the 
need of a more efficient form of government became apparent. 
The Legislative Councils, which had been established in the 



352 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

other Colonies as well as in New South Wales, did not suffi- 
ciently voice the will of the people, and the English Parliament 
decided that these far-away and rapidly growing states should 
frame their own Constitutions and assume a fuller degree of 
self-control. Accordingly, the Legislative Councils which were 
elected in 1851 were each invited by Parliament to prepare 
such a Constitution as the circumstances and conditions of their 
Colony seemed to demand. The invitation was readily accepted. 
New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia submitted 
Constitutions which were approved by Parliament. Queens- 
land did the same when it was separated from New South 
Wales in 1859. Tasmania received a Constitution in 1885 and 
Western Australia in 1890. Each of these six Colonies now 
has its Parliament, consisting of two Houses, the Upper being 
termed the Legislative Council, and the Lower the Legislative 
Assembly, or (in Queensland and Tasmania) the House of 
Assembly. In each of the Colonies, excepting Tasmania,^ which 
requires a property qualification, the Lower House is chosen 
by universal manhood suffrage, though in South Australia 
women also are allowed to vote. The members of tlie Upper 
House are in some of the Colonies chosen by a limited suffrage, 
and in others are appointed by the Crown for life. It is thus 
seen that Australia, like Canada, has to some extent accepted 
English political traditions and to some extent has broken loose 
from them. In its manner of electing its popular House, it is, 
with the exception of Tasmania, thoroughly democratic ; but 
it has refused to allow its Upper House to be chosen even indi- 
rectly by the whole people. Limited suffrage based upon prop- 
erty and legislative appointments proceeding from the authority 
of government are foreign to the democratic theory and to the 
usages of republics. It is to be noticed also that in all of the 
Colonies except Western Australia the members of the Lower 
House, unlike the members of the English House of Commons, 
are paid for their parliamentary services ; and that they are 
elected for three years. 

But though the Colonies had thus gained responsible govern- 
ment, they had not gained unity. For many years they con- 
tinued separate and distinct without making any active effort 

1 In Western Australia either a six months' residence In one place or twelve 
months' residence in the Colony, or a property qualification, is required. 



AUSTRALIA 353 



to unite their interests and destinies, though, the idea of fed- 
eration was brought forward as early as 1852. As time passed, 
this idea inevitably grew pressing and important. The exam- 
ple of Canada was a perpetual invitation to the Australians to 
bring their island under one central sway. In 1886 the move- 
ment for federation began to find expression, and a Federal 
Council met at Hobart to give it careful consideration. Little 
was accomplished by this Council, and its views of the meas- 
ures necessary were narrow. But the movement found an 
earnest friend in Sir Henry Parkes, who pushed it forward in 
the most vigorous manner. Again and again he enunciated 
the idea that federation could never be brought about without 
adequate representation, and that no representative body could 
be adequate unless its members were chosen by the people 
directly or by the different colonial Parliaments. Through his 
initiative another conference was brought about in 1890 ; and 
in 1891 the Australian Federal Council was formed with a view 
to framing a Federal Constitution. In 1895 the Australian 
Premiers held a conference and adopted '•' The Australian Fed- 
eration Enabling Act," which prepared the way for the election 
of a convention to draft a Constitution. To such a Federal 
Convention, accordingly, delegates were sent in 1897 by Tas- 
mania and all the Australian provinces excepting Queensland. 
The Convention held two sessions in 1897 and one in 1898, and 
finally framed a Constitution Bill to be submitted to the differ- 
ent Colonies, though it found the task an exceedingly difficult 
one. The smaller Colonies demanded equal representation in 
the Upper House ; and the larger Colonies insisted that the 
Upper House should have no power to amend money bills. 
The first of these claims was allowed; the second was settled 
by compromise. There was also disagreement over the means 
of settling a dead-lock in case the two Houses disagreed, and 
also over the question of dividing the surplus customs revenue 
among the Colonies. 

These differences having been adjusted, the Convention 
broke up on March 17, 1898, and the bill was then referred to 
a plebiscite in the different Colonies. No vote was taken in 
Queensland, however, because that Colony had held aloof from 
the movement ; and in Western Australia the vote of the people 
was deferred until the matter should have been submitted to 
2x 



354 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

the local pai'liament. In Victoria, Tasmania, and South 
Australia there was an overwhelming popular majority in favor 
of the bill, although only a strikingly small proportion of the 
electors recorded their votes. In New South Wales the result 
was adverse; for, although the bill obtained a majority, it did 
not receive the 80,000 votes required by statute. Notwith- 
standing this defeat there was a strong sentiment in New 
South Wales in favor of the federative movement; and the 
Government of the Colony began to prepare such modifications 
of the bill as would make it acceptable to the electors, hoping 
that the proposed changes would meet with approval in the 
other Colonies. The customs arrangements of the Constitution 
Bill were especially objectionable to the people of New South 
Wales, as through their operation about £250,000 would be 
taken from the revenue of the Colony and made over to the 
general Government; and the provision that a dead-lock 
between the two Houses should be settled by a joint session in 
which a three fifths majority should be necessary also roused 
much opposition, and it was proposed that in such cases a bare 
majority should be sufficient. 

The modifications proposed by the Government of New South 
Wales were submitted to a conference of the Premiers of Vic- 
toria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western 
Australia, and Tasmania, which met at Melbourne toward the 
end of January, 1899. As the result of the conference the 
most serious objections of the people of New South Wales 
were removed, and the Premier of that Colony, who had been 
the chief opponent of the Constitution, now promised to give 
it his support. Its ultimate acceptance by all the Colonies 
became, therefore, practically assured ; and there seemed to be 
no doubt that Mr. Chamberlain, the Colonial Secretary of Great 
Britain, would be in a position to submit the proposed Consti- 
tution to the House of Commons in the course of the year 
1900. Consequently the Constitution began to attract the 
close attention of English lawyers and political leaders, and 
its exceedingly democratic character called forth much inter- 
esting comment.^ For it was modelled after the fundamental 
law of the United States rather than that of Canada. Indeed, 
the Australians abandoned nearly all those political usages 
1 Consult the (English) Laiv Quarterly Review for April, 1899. 



AUSTRALIA 355 



and traditions of the mother-country which the Canadians had 
held sacred and adopted. The Australian Constitution does 
indeed provide for responsible parliamentary government, as it 
gives the Governor-General the power to prorogue the Parlia- 
ment and to dissolve the House of Kepresentatives ; but it 
does not vest that officer with the right of vetoing federal 
legislation ; it gives to the different members of the Confeder- 
ation equal representation in the Senate ; it grants legislative 
powers to the Federal Parliament, but does not expressly 
endow the individual states with similar authority ; and it 
provides for a system of federal courts which are to have a 
jurisdiction similar to that exercised by the federal courts of 
the United States. The supreme federal court is to be called 
the High Court of Australia, and Parliament may confer on it 
original jurisdiction in questions arising under the Constitution 
or involving its interpretation. Thus in several matters of 
prime importance the Australian Constitution imitates that of 
the United States rather than that of Canada, as will be 
apparent by comparing the provisions above noted with those 
of the Canadian Constitution as given on page 337. Moreover, 
the Australians sometimes prefer the political names adopted 
in America to those sanctioned by English usage ; for they 
term their Lower House the House of Representatives instead 
of the House of Commons, and they call the members of the 
Confederation, not provinces, but states. 

From this outline of Australian history and political growth 
it is apparent that in this land, so far removed from European 
civilization, the principle of constitutionalism has won new 
and significant triumphs. Here also representative govern- 
ment has protected the rights of the people. Not indeed that 
its workings have been altogether smooth. Australia, like 
other progressive countries, has had difficult problems to en- 
counter. Its civil service has been corrupt, its political elec- 
tions have been disgraced by extensive bribery, it has not escaped 
from organized and long-continued strikes. Nor has legislation 
always dealt wisely and efficiently with these and other evils. 
On the contrary, it has often been characterized by impatience, 
recklessness, and indifference to the highest welfare of the State. ^ 

1 In the Atlayitic Monthly for March, 1898, there is an able criticism of 
Australian democracy by Mr. E. L. G.oclkiu ; and in the issue of the same 
magazine for May, 1899, is to be found a rejoinder to this article. 



356 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

Yet constitutional government has accomplished so much good 
that the following statement by Sir Henry Parkes ^ about 
its workings in New South Wales may fairly be applied to 
the whole country : " Making all fair allowance for the bene- 
ficial working of those moral and commercial agencies which 
would have come into increasingly active operation under 
any form of political institutions, still the results which are 
directly attributable to the legislative discernment, wisdom, 
and vigor of the new Constitution are immense. They are 
to be seen in the extension of railways, and the greatly 
improved means of communication in all directions, in the 
scores upon scores of substantial bridges which span rivers 
and creeks, where dangerous crossings served the purposes of 
travel in the last generation, and the wider spread of settle- 
ment and the better class of rural homesteads, in the gradual 
sweep of cultivation over the wild land, in the beauty-spots 
of orchard and flower-garden around poor men's homes ; above 
all in the beneficent provision, reaching everywhere, for the 
instruction of the happy children, in the popular demand for 
municipal institutions, in the multiplication of books accessible 
to the many, in the more systematic ordering of towns and vil- 
lages, in the higher efficiency introduced into the departments 
of justice and police — in a word, in every feature of society." 

1 " Fifty Years in the Making of Australian History," I. 312. 



CHAPTER VII 

NEW ZEALAND 

The group of islands which goes by the name of New Zea- 
land belongs to Australasia. But the term "Australasia" is 
purely geographical, and is, indeed, misleading. It suggests 
that all the islands included under the name have a connec- 
tion of some sort with Australia; whereas some of them lie 
far away from that island-continent, and differ from it in every 
essential feature. The two large islands which practically 
compose New Zealand lie 1200 miles east of Australia, and 
extend 600 miles south of its southernmost point, if Tasmania 
is not considered a part of it. Moreover, in climate and in 
physical characteristics the two countries are widely different. 
Australia is a low, flat country, and, on the whole, a very hot 
one, with a fauna and flora peculiar to itself. New Zealand 
is mountainous and comparatively temperate; and its fauna 
and flora bear scarcely any resemblance to those of the larger 
country. 

But naturally, in its material and political growth, it repeats 
the story of Australia. An unknown land with great natural 
resources is occupied by a few adventurous Englishmen, is 
gradually civilized and populated, and becomes a rich and 
flourishing dependency of Great Britain. Like Australia, 
New Zealand was first brought prominently to the notice of 
Great Britain by Captain Cook, who explored it in 1769. But 
its native population of Maoris was savage and addicted to 
cannibalism, and for a long time none but desperate characters 
would settle upon its inhospitable shores. A few runaway 
sailors and escaped convicts found refuge there; the better 
class of colonists could not find a home anud cannibals and 
profligates. Still, missionaries from Sydney did find their way 
to the islands, which were accordingly declared a dependency 

357 



358 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

of New South Wales. Thus the influence of Great Britain 
began to make itself felt in New Zealand, and gradually 
became dominant. At the request of some of the native 
chieftains, who had been reached by missionary effort. King 
William IV. took the islands under England's protection, and 
sent a British resident to bring them under British control. 
This action encouraged Englishmen to settle there. Colonists 
of the better class began to increase, and in 1838 they estab- 
lished a provincial government. And now Edward Gibbon 
Wakefield, that remarkable man who played so prominent a 
part in the early history of Australia, resolved to make the 
islands a possession of the British Crown. So serious a step 
should have been taken by the British Government rather than 
by irresponsible individuals; but as Parliament was slow to 
act in the matter, Wakefield, with the cooperation of Lord 
Durham, secretly formed the New Zealand Company, and sent 
his brother to the islands in 1839 to take possession. More 
colonists came in the following year under the auspices of the 
new company. The city of Wellington was founded. The 
British Government, awakened from its indifference, saw that 
it was high time to interfere. It made New Zealand a sepa- 
rate colony, and placed it under the control of a Governor- 
General and a Legislative Council of six. And as the natives 
ceded the North Island to the Queen by a formal treaty, and 
the Middle Island^ was claimed for the Crown through right 
of discovery, the sovereignty of Great Britain over the islands 
was at least nominally assured. 

But it remained to gain actual possession of the country, 
and this was not easily done. The Maoris were hostile and 
defiant. They fought the English step by step. Though they 
sold their land to the settlers, they would not respect the rights 
of the new owners; and they involved the colonists in long 
and sanguinary wars. Not until 1869 were they entirely sub- 
dued. But in spite of these obstacles the process of coloniza- 
tion went steadily on. Although the British Government 
would not allow a private corporation to control the islands, 
it granted the New Zealand Company a charter under which 
active measures were taken to populate and develop the new 

1 There is a third member of the group, called Stewart Island ; hut it is 
small, thinly settled, and unimportant. 



CHAP. VII NEW ZEALAND 359 

colony. Emigrants were sent to it in large numbers, its inte- 
rior was explored, its resources were carefully examined. 
Gradually it was found that New Zealand was one of the 
richest and most fertile possessions of the Crown. Its forests 
contain an almost inexhaustible supply of valuable timber, 
its moist lands teem with the flax plant, sheep and cattle 
thrive on its immense stretches of pasture land, large stores 
of gum are dug from the sites of its ancient forests, its gold 
mines have given an abundant yield, and its coal mines are 
rich and extensive. Moreover, the northerly part of the North 
Island, not as yet a favorite residence portion of the colony on 
account of its warm climate, has resources of its own, for silk- 
worms and semi-tropical fruits can be produced there without 
trouble. 

Blessed with such resources, New Zealand gained rapidly 
in population, trade, and commerce, after the stream of immi- 
gration had once fairly set toward its shores. In 1854 
its inhabitants numbered about 30,000, exclusive of the 
aborigines; in 1858 they had increased to nearly 60,000; by 
1880 the population, exclusive of the Maoris, had grown to 
500,000, and as the century closes it numbers nearly 750,000. 
And quite proportionate has been the growth in trade and pros- 
perity. In the twenty years from 1859 to 1878 the commerce 
of New Zealand increased nearly twenty fold ; and in the last 
of these years its yearly exports were over $30,000,000. In 
1896 this figure had increased to $42,500,000. Very large, 
also, has been the import trade, owing to the slow development 
of New Zealand's manufacturing industries. Rich in its 
forests, its mines, and its agricultural and grazing lands, the 
country did not for a long time find it expedient to attempt 
manufacturing upon a large scale. Rather did it pursue the 
natural course of sending its own products to Great Britain, 
and in turn drawing largely upon the mother-country for the 
manifold articles of daily use. At the same time, manufactures 
have of late received considerable attention. The factories of 
New Zealand now give employment to 40,000 persons, and 
their yearly product has a value of more than $50,000,000. 
Helped thus by their climate, their soil, their mineral resources, 
and their facilities for all manner of industrial and commer- 
cial enterprises, the people of the country have attained to an 



360 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book n 

almost unexampled prosperity. Large fortunes, it is true, are 
not common, as they are in Australia ; bat nearly all live in 
comfort, and poverty is hardly known. Not that the islands 
have been free from those seasons of business depression, 
money stringency, and disastrous speculation which seem 
invariably to attend the advance of civilization. The year 
1879 marked the beginning of a panic, which was of long 
duration, and which caused widespread financial disturbance, 
for previous to that year there had been an over-rapid develop- 
ment of commercial enterprises. Money had been borrowed 
extensively, speculation in land had been excessive, prices 
had become inflated. The crash came which inevitably fol- 
lows such unhealthy business activity, and many were finan- 
cially ruined, while many others saved their fortunes only by 
anxious years of exertion and self-denial. But this season of 
excitement and disaster was followed by prosperous years. 
The people settled down into thrifty and contented ways, 
avoiding the fierce competition of modern civilization and the 
direful evils which it brings. For though the New Zealanders 
have had to grapple with the socialistic and other troublesome 
problems of the present day, they have faced these problems 
with courage and equanimity, as a glance at their political his- 
tory will show. 

That this history is a most interesting and instructive one 
need not surprise us. The colonists of New Zealand were 
Englishmen, with many Scotch and Irish and a few Scandina- 
vians and Germans intermixed. Possessing thus the Anglo- 
Saxon genius for affairs, they soon learned to demand the right 
of self-government. This demand was pressingly urged by 
Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who played a conspicuous and not 
wholly creditable part in Australian politics, and who may be 
said to have been the founder of the New Zealand Colony. But 
it was only by persistent efforts that the colonists obtained 
what they desired. In this case, as in all similar cases of colo- 
nial ambition for independence, the mother-country was slow 
to relax its grasp upon its young and growing progeny. The 
home Government sent out one Governor-General after another 
from Great Britain, but not till 1852 did it recognize the claims 
of the New Zealanders to manage their own affairs. In that 
year the British Parliament granted New Zealand the right of 



CHAP, vii NEW ZEALAND 361 

self-government under a Constitution which was largely the 
work of the Governor-General, Sir George Grey. This able 
man, who more than once played an important part in the his- 
tory of the Colony, was sent to New Zealand in 1846. Showing 
great tact in dealing with the natives, and a sincere interest in 
the welfare of the colonists, he was more successful in govern- 
ing the islands than his predecessors had been. The Constitu- 
tion which he helped to frame for the Colony was ambitiously 
conceived ; for it provided for nine provincial assemblies as 
well as for a central parliament, and it must be admitted that 
the country was sparsel}^ settled for the establishment of so 
many parliamentary bodies. But the Constitution materially 
helped the political development of the country, and for twenty- 
two years it continued without substantial modification. 

But Governor Grey did not remain with the Colony long 
enough to see the machinery of government which he had 
devised put into successful operation. He left New Zealand 
in 1853, and it was not till 1856 that the House of Representa- 
tives was thoroughly and efficiently organized and enabled to 
perform its legislative functions. That this early departure of 
Governor Grey was a loss to the country soon became apparent, 
for his immediate successors proved incompetent. Those disas- 
trous wars which disturbed the Colony for so many years (p. 
358) were largely due to the mismanagement of Colonel Browne. 
Appointed Governor in 1855, he soon offended the natives by 
his arbitrary manner of dealing with them ; and though Grey 
was again made Governor in 1861, even he could not quell the 
spirit of insurrection which had been roused. But, in spite of 
reverses, the Colony grew in wealth and population, and with 
increased prosperity came new social and political conditions. 
For gradually the colonists acquired confidence in themselves 
and in the resources of their country ; and this confidence gen- 
erated a desire to control the policy of the Government and to 
adapt legislation to the growing needs of the Colony. The 
early Governors took the administration of affairs very largely 
into their own hands ; but after Grey's second term of office 
came to an end, in 1868, the Governors did not attempt to shape 
the colonial policy. Left thus to themselves, the colonists 
proved active and capable. The decade preceding 1880 was 
marked by a number of important steps. The provincial 



362 GKEAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

councils were abolished in 1875, and local affairs were largely- 
intrusted to local boards which could not claim parliamentary 
dignity. But more important than this change was the assump- 
tion of new duties and responsibilities by the Government. The 
time had come when it was necessary to provide the Colony 
with better facilities for communication and commercial inter- 
course. Accordingly, the Government borrowed large sums of 
money, built roads, constructed railroads, purchased land, and 
brought new immigrants into the country. 

That this activity on the part of the Government stimulated 
private enterprise, and was finally attended with some unfor- 
tunate consequences, has been already shown (p. 360). The 
decade that followed 1880 was largely spent in retrieving the 
disasters of this period of expansion and development. But 
the colonists were by no means inclined to curtail the powers 
and the activity of the Government, because it had, indirectly, 
been the cause of a period of depression. On the contrary, 
they continually increased the area of State control. For into 
these far-off islands swept the wave of socialistic feeling which 
has in recent years been flowing around the world. The New 
Zealanders have not indeed become professed State Socialists, 
nor have they passed revolutionary legislation. But prosper- 
ous, successful, building up a new civilization, and easily 
emancipating themselves from the traditions of the past, 
they have considered their country well fitted to work out 
political and social reforms. Accordingly, they have little by 
little enlarged the powers and functions of government. The 
vexed question of land ownership has received a partial solu- 
tion, as the State, instead of selling the Crown lands, more 
commonly retains its ownership of them and leases them to 
villages or to individuals. Railroads, telegraphs, and telephone 
systems are also owned by the State, and hospitals and lunatic 
asylums are under its control. It conducts a large life insur- 
ance business, takes charge of conveyancing and the investiga- 
tion of land titles, and maintains a public trustee who looks 
after, not only intestate estates, but all those which are settled 
with difficulty. In raising its revenues the State recognizes 
the principle of inequality ; for both lands and incomes are 
assessed in proportion to their value or amount. Small farms 
and incomes below £333 pay nothing to the State. Farms 



CHAP. VII NEW ZEALAND 363 

worth £5000 or more than that sum are assessed according to 
a graduated scale. Incomes between £300 and £1300 pay six- 
pence in the pound; incomes larger than £1300 pay a shilling. 

To the labor question much attention has been given, and 
some radical measures have been taken to prevent wasting con- 
flicts between workingmen and capitalists. In every mining or 
manufacturing district is established a Board of Conciliation, 
which is composed of representatives of the laborers and their 
employers, and to which all disputes between these two classes 
are first referred. But each side is so vitally interested in the 
quCvStion at issue, that these local boards are usually unable to 
make their decision respected, and an appeal to a higher tri- 
bunal becomes necessary. In such cases the Central Court of 
Arbitration takes the disputed matter in hand and passes judg- 
ment upon it. As the verdict given by this court can be 
legally enforced, it is always accepted without question. And 
certainly the composition of the court is such that its decisions 
ought to carry weight. Only three members belong to it, one 
of whom represents labor, one capital, while the third is a 
judge of the Supreme Court. It is difficult to see how this 
important tribunal could be made up in a fairer way. 

Although the labor laws of New Zealand are numerous, few 
of them besides those that concern arbitration can be said to 
differ essentially from those of other countries. They are 
designed to make employers liable for accidents to their 
employees, to protect seamen and miners, to prevent the 
sweating system, to regulate the hours of factory operatives, 
to secure weekly half-holidays for certain classes of working- 
people, and in many ways to secure justice to the laboring 
man and to lighten his burden. But the Servants, Registry 
Offices Act may be specially mentioned, as illustrating a ten- 
dency toward State socialism, for it gives the Government 
entire control over employment offices. None but persons of 
good character are allowed to conduct such offices, and only 
the fee that the Government prescribes can be charged. It 
may also be noted that trade-unions have the right to become 
corporate bodies, and as such are able to sue and to be sued. 

Such being the legislative tendencies of New Zealand, it is 
not surprising that this enterprising and democratic country 
should adopt a radical plan .of giving relief to the aged. The 



364 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

question of Old Age Pensions has been widely discussed, and 
has been seriously considered by the legislatures of various 
countries. Even in England a committee was appointed in 
1896 to examine into the feasibility of the manifold schemes 
of this character. But while other countries have deliberated, 
New Zealand has taken action. On October 20, 1898, the New 
Zealand House of Representatives voted to grant a pension of 
£18 per annum to persons sixty-five years of age and upward, 
of good moral character, who have resided in the colony twenty- 
five years, and whose income does not exceed £34. It will be 
seen that the purport of the measure is to secure to all persons 
in their declining years a sure income of as much as a pound 
a week. 

The Constitution of New Zealand has received some modifi- 
cations, but it is fundamentally the same that was framed and 
adopted in 1852. The connection with the mother-country is 
preserved through the Governor-General, who is appointed by 
the Crown. The legislative branch of the Government consists 
of a Legislative Council of forty-six members, now appointed 
by the Crown for seven years, but originally for life, and of a 
House of Representatives of seventy-four members, who are 
elected by the people for five years. Responsible ministers, 
representing the dominant party, constitute with the Governor- 
General the Executive, and remain in power as long as they 
retain their majority, or until Parliament is dissolved. For 
some time a property qualification was required of voters ; but 
in 1872 this limitation of the suffrage was practically abolished. 
Either a twelve months residence in the islands, or the owner- 
ship of real property worth £25, now gives the right to vote. 
It is worthy of notice that the Maoris are allowed to choose 
four of their number to sit in the House of Representatives, 
and also that the franchise was extended to women in 1893. 

That New Zealand has made a wide departure from the 
aristocratic usages and customs of the mother-country is 
apparent, and her radical and socialistic legislation has 
attracted much attention. Many are confident that evil results 
will ultimately come from this legislation ; but the New Zea- 
landers themselves, who ought best to understand their own 
affairs, believe firmly in their institutions.^ 

1 The Economic Review, July 15, 1899. 



CHAPTER VIII 

SOUTH AFRICA 

Toward the end of the fifteenth century it was discovered 
that vessels could go from the ports of Europe to India by 
rounding the Cape of Good Hope, and this route was at once 
made use of, to the great advantage of commerce. But for 
some time no European settlement was made near this famous 
point of land, for the advantages of South Africa in soil and 
climate were unknown. In 1652, however, the Netherlands 
East India Company established a Colony on the shores of Table 
Bay. Other colonists followed. Settlers gained possession of 
a considerable tract of country by purchasing land from the 
Hottentot chiefs, and they pushed their way northward and 
eastward, though not without coming into bloody conflicts with 
the natives. Thus the Dutch became undisputed possessors of 
South Africa. For nearly a hundred and fifty years after their 
first settlement was founded at Table Bay they were molested 
by no European nation. But in 1795 the English wrested the 
Colony from them, Holland having in that year been made a 
French province, and fears being entertained in England that 
the Dutch Colony at the Cape of Good Hope would share a like 
fate. For French control of this important point would have 
threatened England's communication with India. Restored to 
Holland by the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, the Colony was again 
seized by the English in 1806, and was formally ceded to them 
by the King of the Netherlands for a sum of money in 1815. 

But, though now an English possession, the Cape was peopled 
almost entirely by Dutch. Only gradually did English settlers 
become numerous and English customs and the English lan- 
guage supersede those of the older colonists. Not till 1826 did 
the process of Anglicizing the Colony actively begin. In that 
year an Executive Council was appointed to advise with the 

365 



366 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

Governor ; and a supreme court, which set aside the old Dutch 
system of rendering justice, was established. But these inno- 
vations gave great offence to the Dutch inhabitants, who dif- 
fered in many ways from the English settlers. The Dutch 
Boers were industrious, pious, and upright, but narrow and 
unprogressive. They lacked the Anglo-Saxon instinct for 
political development. Moreover, interpreting the Bible in a 
strictly literal way, they found in the Old Testament ample 
warrant for holding the native Africans in slavery. Accord- 
ingly, their discontent, which had for a long time been growing, 
became bitter and outspoken in 1834, when the British Parlia- 
ment abolished slavery in the Colonies. They were a sturdy 
people, jealously clinging to their independence ; and many of 
them now determined to take themselves oat of the reach of 
English rule. Selling their possessions, many of them " trekked " 
eastward with their cattle, flocks, and wagons into the territory 
which is now comprised by the Colony of Natal. Here they 
attempted in 1839 to establish the " Kepublic of Natalia," tak- 
ing the name from that which Vasco de Gama had applied to 
this portion of South Africa in 1497. For, having sighted it 
on Christmas Day, he called it Terra Natalis. But the English 
Government was not at this time willing that any independent 
state should be established near its own South African Colony. 
Consequently, armed conflicts followed between tlie Boers and 
the troops that were sent to subdue them. Overpowered by 
numbers, the Dutch submitted, and Natal was proclaimed a 
British Colony in 1843. 

But the Boers were none the less determined to secure their 
independence. For a number of years the Dutch had been 
making their way northward across the Orange Eiver, and 
those who had already settled there were now joined by others 
who wished to be free from British rule. Here, Avith a wide 
river to separate them from the English Colony, they hoped to 
be entirely their own masters. But their hopes were for a time 
doomed to be disappointed. The Governor of the Cape Colony 
issued a proclamation annexing the territory beyond the Orange 
River, and once more the Dutch took arms to establish their 
independence. But they were as unsuccessful here as they had 
been in Natalia. Worsted on the field, they were obliged to 
recognize the sovereignty of Great Britain ; and it was only 



CHAP, viii SOUTH AFRICA 367 

when the English Government voluntarily abandoned all claim 
to the territory in 1854 that the Boer dream of independence 
was realized. Becoming now the sole owners of the soil, they 
founded the Orange Free State. 

But the Boer movement extended even farther north. At 
the time when the Dutch malcontents were making their way 
into Natal, some of the more independent spirits crossed the 
Vaal River in their endeavor to get entirely beyond the limits 
of British authority. And though, like the settlers of the 
Orange Free State, they were at first held to their allegiance to 
the Crown, they were finally allowed to manage their own 
affairs and to have a separate national existence. By an agree- 
ment made with them in 1852 the British Government granted 
them complete independence. And, as their scattered commu- 
nities learned to feel the need of a central government, they 
united and formed the Transvaal, or South African Republic. 

Thus, in assuming full control of her own Colony at the Cape, 
England caused an extensive Boer emigration and occasioned 
the founding of two independent Dutch states. But if many 
Boers left the Cape Colony, many also remained and became 
thoroughly loyal citizens. Dutch blood is still dominant in the 
Colony. In each of its parliamentary Houses there is a large 
majority of Dutch-speaking men. But these men of Dutch 
descent have become firm believers in English rule, and are 
ready to promote all reasonable schemes to bring about a fed- 
eration of the Dutch and English South African Colonies. 

But the Dutch were not the only ones to resist the authority 
of the Colony. Some of the aboriginal tribes in South Africa 
are brave, fierce peoples, suspicious and jealous of the white 
man and not afraid to face his destructive weapons with their 
own primitive implements of warfare. First and last the Kaffirs, 
Hottentots, and Zulus have given the Dutch and English a good 
deal of trouble and caused the loss of many lives. 

But, in spite of the dissatisfaction of the Dutch and the 
hostility of the native tribes, the Colony grew, though it was 
by no means always prosperous. Its original area had, under 
Dutch control, been comparatively small. By successive annex- 
ations its territory was widened, and its population was increased 
by immigration and by natural growth. And with the expan- 
sion of the Colony came the inevitable demand for self-govern- 



368 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

ment, even as it came in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. 
As early as 1827 the English Secretary of State received a 
petition from the colonists, asking for an elected House of 
Representatives. As the petition was not granted, it was fol- 
lowed by others ; and after a time they produced the desired 
effect. In 1849 the Colony acquired respect by the vigor with 
which it protested against a project to make it a penal settle- 
ment. The project was abandoned, and the colonists, elated by 
their success in defeating it, clamored for self-government 
more earnestly than ever. In 1853 they were granted a Con- 
stitution which empowered them to choose a Parliament con- 
sisting of two Houses. But though representation was thus 
gained, it did not as yet apply to the executive branch of the 
Government ; for the members of the Executive were appointed 
by the Crown and were responsible to the Crown for their 
actions. Hence the Executive did not, as it does in England, 
fairly represent the popular majority. Sometimes it was in 
conflict with the members of Parliament; and the colonists 
grew more and more dissatisfied with a system which really 
denied them what it pretended to give, the right of managing 
their own affairs. But in 1872 a more liberal Constitution was 
proclaimed, after being adopted by the colonial Parliament and 
receiving the royal sanction. By its provisions the Governor- 
General and the Executive Council are still appointed by the 
Crown ; but the administration of affairs is largely in the hands 
of the Prime Minister, who holds office, as in England, as long 
as he can command a majority in Parliament. As in other 
English colonies that have responsible government, Parliament 
consists of an Upper and a Lower House. The members of 
the Upper House, or Legislative Council, are twenty-two in 
number and are elected for seven years ; those of the Lower 
House, or House of Assembly, are seventy-four in number and 
are elected for five years. The suffrage is limited by a property 
qualification. 

But the happy termination of political troubles did not bring 
unbroken prosperity to the colony. South Africa, with all its 
natural wealth and resources, presents many obstacles to suc- 
cessful enterprise. Travellers have remarked upon its strange 
and bewildering contrasts. The climate is healthful on the 
high plateaus, but malarial near the coasts ; and the changes 



CHAP. VIII SOUTH AFRICA 369 

in temperature are sudden and very great. The rivers are at 
one time raging torrents and again " feeble trickles of mud." ^ 
Dust-storms come even where the air is usually pure and exhila- 
rating. Tracts of luxuriant vegetation are interpersed with arid 
plains. Heavy rains are succeeded by periods of drought ; and 
the cattle that thrive so commonly are in some places stricken 
down by mysterious disease or by the maddening tsetse fly. 

Hence the growth of the Cape Colony was interrupted by 
seasons of reaction and depression ; and not long after the new 
Constitution was adopted there came a period of stagnation. 
Droughts and other adverse conditions made trade languish and 
fall away. But the discovery of the diamond fields near the 
Vaal River in 1867 brought a revival of prosperity. It was 
soon found that some of the mines were exceedingly productive, 
and thus a new industry, bringing enormous returns to the 
Colony, was securely established. True, the most valuable 
mines are in the Orange Free State ; but some are in the 
borders of Cape Colony, and those outside of it have been 
developed largely by the capital of its own inhabitants. 

But the mineral wealth of South Africa is by no means 
limited to its diamonds. Extensive deposits of gold, silver, 
iron, lead, and coal are found in the various Dutch and English 
possessions, the South African Republic (Transvaal) being 
especially rich in minerals ; and copper has been mined from 
Namaqualand, in the adjoining German territory, by two 
English companies for half a century. But most of these 
mineral deposits have been found since the discovery of dia- 
monds in 1867, and none of them have yet yielded very large 
profits excepting that of gold. This metal exists in various 
parts of Cape Colony; but the only rich deposits thus far 
discovered are in the South African Republic. At Witwaters- 
rand, about thirty-five miles south of Pretoria, there are gold 
fields of immense value. They were first worked in 1886, but 
they soon proved to be among the richest in the world. In 
their vicinity has sprung up the flourishing city of Johannes- 
burg, which now has a population of 70,000. The shares of 
the Witwatersrand gold-mining companies increased rapidly in 
valufe, and the owners of them, both in England and South 
Africa, became very wealthy. 

1 Bryce's " Impressions of South Africa," p. 8. 
2b 



370 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book n 

Thus the Cape Colony passed from the season of depression 
that visited it in the latter sixties to an era of great prosperity. 
The resources of the country were developed. Its sheep pas- 
tures are rich and extensive, and the amount of wool exported 
yearly has grown to be very large. The value of this export 
in 1897 was £1,496,779. A large quantity of this staple is 
also consumed in home manufactures, which are slowly increas- 
ing.^ Thus the country is growing wealthy. Large fortunes 
have been made from diamonds, gold, and wool ; and with 
large fortunes have come large ambitions. Under Anglo-Saxon 
rule and influence the Colony has taken an aggressive attitude 
which its Dutch inhabitants never would have assumed. For a 
number of years an English resident of Cape Colony has filled 
the minds of its people with vast schemes of expansion and 
federation. This man is the Hon. Cecil Rhodes, who left 
England to recruit his health in South Africa just before 1870. 

He was at that time about thirty years of age. In the mild 
climate of his new home he grew strong and rugged; and 
along with bodily health he developed commanding ability and 
a forceful personality. By effecting a consolidation of various 
separate mining companies he acquired an enormous fortune ; 
but he has apparently valued wealth as a source of power rather 
than as a means of luxurious living. Having become the most 
important figure in South Africa, he determined to use all his 
resources and ability to further British influence in that region. 
Thirty years ago Great Britain's possessions in South Africa 
were limited to Natal and the Cape Colony, and the area of the 
latter province was smaller than it is at the present time. 
Nor was the English Government then anxious to increase the 
extent of its South African territory. But in 1871 Basutoland, 
with an area of 10,000 square miles, was annexed to Cape 
Colony because of the unhappy condition of its native inhabit- 
ants, who had suffered severely in war and who appealed to 
the British for protection. In 1874 the Conservatives came 
into power in England, and how they attempted to carry out 
an ambitious imperial policy under Lord Beaconsfield's leader- 

1 Mr. Bryce thinks, and with apparent reason, that any considerable devel- 
opment of manufacturing industries in Soutli Africa is improbable. The 
inferior quality of the coal, the lack of water-power in the rivers, and the 
scarcity of skilled labor put great difficulties in the way of manufacturing 
enterprise. " Impressions of South Africa," pp. 459 et seq. 



CHAP. VIII SOUTH AFRICA 371 

ship has already been related (p. 305). That policy embroiled 
the Government of Cape Colony both with the Dutch and with 
the Zulus, and led to the temporary annexation of the South 
African Republic. The Republic was finally granted its inde- 
pendence under England's suzerainty when the Liberals came 
again into power in England ; but the trouble with the Zulus 
was not easily settled. Finally, however, a portion of their 
country was incorporated into the South African Republic ; 
and the remainder, comprising about 9000 square miles, 
was, in 1887, declared British territory, and was placed 
under the authority of Natal and a commissioner and magis- 
trates. In the same year, Annatongaland, lying north of Zulu- 
land and having an area of 5300 square miles, was brought 
under the sovereignty of Great Britain by a treaty with 
Zambilli, its queen regent. And before this a still more 
decided step in territorial expansion had been taken ; for in 
1885 Bechuanaland, as far as the Molopo River, was proclaimed 
to be a part of the Queen's dominions, in order that the people 
of Cape Colony might control the trade route to the interior. 
Thus a tract of 10,000 square miles was gained for British 
South Africa; and not long afterward an additional tract to 
the north, containing 386,000 square miles, was brought under 
British sovereignty under the name of the Bechuanaland Pro- 
tectorate. 

These additions to the British domains in South Africa were 
altogether pleasing to Mr. Rhodes, but they by no means 
satisfied him. To the north of the Bechuanaland Protectorate 
he saw an immense region, stretching to the southern boundary 
of the Congo Free State, which he was extremely anxious that 
England should acquire. For if England did not seize it, some 
other nation surely would. The explorations of Stanley and 
others had revealed the resources of Africa and awakened the 
cupidity of the powers of Europe. The stronger states were 
becoming filled with colonial ambition. Germany, France, 
Italy, and Portugal were laying hold of African territory with 
eager hands. Unless Great Britain claimed her share with 
prompt decision, there would soon be nothing left to acquire. 
But the British Government was slow to recognize its opportu- 
nity, and had it not been for the energy of Mr. Rhodes, the 
immense basin of the upper Zambesi River would have passed 



372 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

into the hands of Germany and Portugal ; for these powers 
possess the coast region on either hand. But Mr. Rhodes, 
seeing that England's imperial ambition was not to be aroused, 
determined to get possession of the desired territory for pur- 
poses of trade. Accordingly, he joined with others in founding 
the British South Africa Company and gained for it a royal 
charter, by which it was empowered to take possession of and 
administer the country lying north and south of the Zambesi 
and west of Portuguese East Africa. As the company under- 
took to maintain order at its own expense in this vast tract, 
comprising 750,000 square miles, the English Government was 
thus able to control the territory and to consider it a part of 
the South African domains. Ultimately England will undoubt- 
edly relieve the company of its responsibility and take the 
management of the territory into its own hands. Thus the 
British Colonies in South Africa have acquired ample room for 
growth and expansion. They now comprise nearly 1,500,000 
square miles, an area which is nearly half as great as that of 
Canada or Australia, aud more than ten times as great as that 
of Great Britain itself. But much of this territory will in all 
probability never be thickly settled. Of the land recently 
acquired a good deal is not intrinsically valuable. Some dis- 
tricts are marshy and malarious, others have a thin and sandy 
soil, and others are arid and unproductive. Yet there remain 
vast tracts that will be available for grazing and agriculture, 
and some of the more unpromising regions undoubtedly contain 
deposits of gold.^ How great these deposits are is quite uncer- 
tain. Explorations to determiue their value are now in prog- 
ress, but it seems certain that for many years to come they 
will attract capital and labor and will yield at least moderate 
returns. On the whole, the British possessions in South 
Africa are a valuable addition to the Empire. Like Canada 
and Australia, they add greatly to the power and wealth of 
Great Britain, and give to her surplus population a splendid 
field for activity and enterprise. 

But in the nature of things these newly acquired tracts have 
not as yet received any political development. Their white 
population is so scanty that self-government will for some 

1 To understand the value of these new acquisitions of Great Britain in 
South Africa, consult Bryce's " Impressions of South Africa," Ch. XVII. 



CHAP, viii SOUTH AFRICA 373 

time be out of the question. Bechuanaland is ruled by an 
administrator who acts under the Governor of Cape Colony. 
The region to the north is controlled by the British South 
Africa Company, as already stated. Besides Cape Colony, 
Natal is the only South African British province that has 
secured responsible government, and this distinction it attained 
as recently as 1893. Its executive is a Governor, appointed by 
the Crown, and a responsible Ministry of five members. The 
parliamentary branch of the government is composed of a 
Legislative Council of eleven members, who are appointed for 
ten years by the Governor assisted by the Ministry ; and a 
Legislative Assembly of thirty-seven members, who are elected 
for four years. As in Cape Colony, the franchise is restricted 
by a property and an educational test. For in both of these 
colonies the white population is determined to keep the man- 
agement of affairs entirely in its own hands, and to withhold 
the suffrage from the numerous but ignorant native class. 
Cape Colony, Avith an area of 221,311 square miles, has about 
2,000,000 inhabitants, of whom only 400,000 are white. Natal, 
with an area of 20,401 square miles, has about 100,000 whites 
against 500,000 natives and Indians. It is therefore necessary 
for the whites to guard the franchise with great care. Univer- 
sal suffrage would make responsible government little better 
than a farce. 

Though much smaller than Cape Colony, Natal possesses 
advantages of its own. It contains valuable deposits of coal 
and iron, and it has on the whole a better climate and a richer 
soil. Therefore, though its growth is slow, its future seems 
assured. 

This discussion of South Africa would hardly be complete 
without some further consideration of the South African 
Republic, or the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State, espe- 
cially after the important things that happened there in 1899. 
For in that year the animosity that had long existed between 
the Boers of the Transvaal and the English residents of South 
Africa caused the outbreak of a most imfortunate war. Ever 
since the Boers trekked northward in 1836, they have been try- 
ing to evade Great Britain's reach and to get entirely out of 
the current of English life and thought. But they could not 
place themselves where the Anglo-Saxon lust for land and gold 



374 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

did not pursue them. In 1877 Great Britain tried to annex 
their territory (p. 306). In the last decade of the century both 
their country and their gold aroused the covetous instincts of 
the Anglo-Saxon. 

But the Boers, though deserving sympathy, have yet brought 
their troubles upon themselves. If they had simply sought 
isolation, independence, and the meagre comforts of a primitive 
mode of life, all the world Would have felt that they were 
entitled to what they craved. But the truth is, they have 
wanted these things, and they have also desired to profit, and 
to profit greatly, by the enterprise of more restless spirits than 
themselves. Hence their dealings with other peoples have 
not been marked by the honesty and straightforwardness that 
ought to characterize the simple and patriarchal life they 
maintain. For they are shrewd, crafty, and evasive in their 
diplomacy ; and, while professing a strong love of freedom and 
independence, they are yet willing to exercise a galling tyranny 
over those who are within their power. 

By annexing them against their will ^ in 1877, Great Britain 
did them a wrong which they properly resented. But the 
wrong was righted, and the British Government showed indeed 
a sincere desire to do the Boers of the Transvaal full justice. 
To the terms of the treaty that was made between the Trans- 
vaal and Great Britain in 1881, the Boers took exception, for 
its stipulations curtailed their independence to an unreasonable 
degree. Not only did the treaty provide that the British Gov- 
ernment should approve of every treaty made between the 
Transvaal and a foreign power, but it limited the right of 
the Transvaal to deal with the natives, and it offended the pride 
of the Boers by forbidding them to encroach upon the boun- 
daries of their neighbors. Considering, therefore, that these 
provisions restricted them unduly, the Boers proceeded to set 
them aside. For in the very year that the treaty was con- 
cluded they made a raid into Bechuanaland, and they invaded 
Zululand and annexed a portion of it. But these high-handed 
actions did not prevent them from receiving a fair and consid- 
erate treatment at the hands of Great Britain. For when Paul 
Kruger went to England in 1883 to secure a larger measure of 

1 The annexation, though disliked by the Boers, did not cause such wide- 
spread resentment among them as has often been supposed. Bryce, p. 159. 



CHAP, vm SOUTH AFRICA 376 

autonomy for his people, he obtained about all that he demanded. 
A new treaty was made with the Transvaal in 1884, and the 
only restriction that was placed upon its independence was con- 
tained in the following article : " The South African Eepub- 
lic will conclude no treaty or engagement with any state or 
nation other than the Orange Free State, or with any native 
tribe eastward or westward of the Republic, until the same has 
been approved by her Majesty the Queen." It is to be noticed 
that in this provision no mention is made of suzerainty, though 
a suzerainty may be said to be implied by the very character of 
the stipulations. 

But it was during this very visit to England that President 
Kruger showed the insincerity of all future claims made by the 
Boers that their sole desire was to live apart by themselves. 
For, when asked whether foreigners would be well treated in 
the Transvaal, he replied that the Boers desired to see the min- 
ing resources of the Transvaal developed and would do all they 
could to further that end. Accordingly, the Uitlanders flocked 
into the Transvaal after gold was found there in abundance, 
made Johannesburg a thriving and populous city, and developed 
the gold mines till they became the most productive in the 
world. 

But they did not find the Boers ready to cooperate, as Presi- 
dent Kruger had vouched that they would be. On the contrary, 
the Boers treated the Uitlanders with the most wanton and 
high-handed injustice. That the Dutch residents of the Trans- 
vaal should have made it extremely difficult for foreigners to 
obtain the franchise was natural and justifiable. The Boers 
wished to maintain their own institutions and primitive form 
of civilization unimpaired ; and this they had a perfect right 
to do. Consequently, they were hardly to be criticised for 
making a fourteen years' residence in the Transvaal a necessary 
qualification for voting. But nothing could excuse their 
unhandsome treatment of the people whom they thus refused 
to enfranchise. For they made the Uitlanders pay nine-tenths 
of the taxes of the country, and the revenues thus acquired 
they spent for the benefit of the Dutch population, but never 
for the good of the Uitlanders themselves. Johannesburg 
remained an ill-paved, ill-lighted, and unsanitary city; and, 
instead of helping the Uitlanders in their mining enterprises, 



376 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

as Mr. Kruger had promised would be the case, the Boers 
thwarted and hindered them by unjust monopolies and various 
petty and tyrannous exactions. Thus they made it clearly 
apparent that, however much they despised the modern gold- 
seeker and the civilization he represents, they were determined 
to benefit to the full by his energy and his enormous gains. 

No wonder, then, that the Uitlanders grew more and more 
restless under such galling treatment. It was their discontent 
in part, no doubt, that was responsible for the futile invasion 
of Dr. Jameson in 1895 ; and it was this same discontent that 
led to a more orderly attempt to secure justice in the spring of 
1899. For at that time the Uitlanders united in demanding 
reforms of the Boer Government, and in requesting the British 
Government to see that the reforms were granted. The reforms 
were twelve in number, and included a fair representation in 
the Volksraad, cancellation of monopolies, the independence of 
the courts, and that the heads of the Government of the Trans- 
vaal should be answerable to the Volksraad. 

The cause of the Uitlanders awakened the interest of the 
British Government, Mr. Chamberlain, the Colonial Secretary, 
being especially ready to exert himself in their behalf. Nor 
was the Transvaal Government, which really meant President 
Kruger, unwilling to consider the reforms urged by the Uit- 
landers and to make concessions. The length of residence 
necessary for obtaining the franchise was curtailed from four- 
teen years to nine, and then to seven, and finally to five ; and 
in other respects a willingness to conciliate the Uitlanders was 
manifested. And yet the negotiations between Great Britain 
and the Transvaal were at no time satisfactory to the former 
power, and the longer they were continued the more unpromis- 
ing did they become. For the crafty Boer Executive was eva- 
sive and exasperatingly slow, and in the end he made it plain 
that he meant to yield nothing without obtaining a correspond- 
ing advantage. He conducted the entire diplomatic intercourse 
as if he were dealing with a power that was ready to regard his 
country as an equal ; but in taking this attitude he made a 
serious mistake. Mr. Gladstone would perhaps have met him 
in this spirit; Mr. Chamberlain never had any thought of 
doing so. 

Consequently, when President Kruger announced his terms 



CHAP. Till SOUTH AFRICA 377 

after long delay, and it was found that his concessions were 
made upon the assumption that the Transvaal was a "sovereign 
international state," the situation at once became serious. To 
some of the extreme Liberals in Great Britain this assumption 
gave no offence ; but in most Englishmen it roused a feeling of 
indignation, and the Boer President was accused of shiftiness 
and insincerity. Even the moderate press now took an aggres- 
sive tone, and the warlike preparations which Great Britain 
had been makiag as a matter of caution, and without really 
expecting war, were now pushed forward in a vigorous and' 
determined spirit. The Dutch were equally warlike, and 
neither country showed any intention of yielding so far as to 
relieve the strain and prevent the interruption of peaceful rela- 
tions. Finally, early in October, 1899, the Boers began hostili- 
ties and launched their country into a foolish and utterly 
unnecessary war. It was a war which could end in but one 
way, and it was one for which the Boers themselves were 
largely responsible; yet the blame was not chiefly theirs. 
Unprejudiced observers of events in the Transvaal could not 
ignore the fact that after all the Uitlanders did not have a 
thoroughly good cause. They had gone into a foreign state to 
acquire wealth, and this they got in abundant measure in spite 
of the exasperating treatment to which they were subjected. 
Why, then, should the feeble Dutch state, intolerant and tyran- 
nical as its conduct was, have been threatened with force at 
all ? If Great Britain had prepared no armaments to support 
its demands, but had asked for concessions to the Uitlanders 
solely on the ground of humanity and justice, concessions 
would have been made. They would have been long withheld, 
and, when granted, they would have been meagre and inade- 
quate. But delay and scanty justice would have been infinitely 
better than a war, the primary cause of which was nothing less 
than Anglo-Saxon greed. ^ 

The Boers of the Transvaal are more crude and ignorant 

iMr. Frederick Harrison, who well represents advanced liberal thought in 
England, denounced the conduct of the British Government unsparingly and 
declared that Mr. Chamberlain conducted his negotiations with the Transvaal 
with a view to bringing on war. His criticism of Mr. Chamberlain's policy is 
partially given in the Review of Revieios, October, 1899, p. 389. A powerful 
vindication of England's policy is given in " The Situation in South Africa," The 
Nineteenth Century, 46 : 522. 



378 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES book ii 

than the Dutch in the Orange Free State, and are utterly- 
opposed to progress. In politics, religion, and social life they 
see no need of growth or change. Paul Kruger, shrewd, 
bigoted, and narrow, fairly typifies the spirit of the nation. 
Numbering not much above fifty thousand, the Boers of the 
Transvaal are outnumbered by the Uitlanders ; but this great 
inroad of foreigners only inclined them to cling more stub- 
bornly than ever to their own institutions and ways of life. 
At the head of the State is the President, who is chosen for 
five years, and is assisted by an Executive Council of five 
members. The legislative branch of the Government consists 
of one chamber, termed the Volksraad. Its members are forty- 
four in number, and are elected for four years by a suffrage 
which is almost universal among the Boers themselves. The 
President has no power to veto the acts of the Legislature; 
yet the system of government is so far patriarchal that the 
Volksraad is almost entirely guided and controlled by the 
Executive. A shrewd and determined President, like Paul 
Kruger, has practically an absolute sway. 

The Orange Free State was led by race sympathy to join 
with the Transvaal in the war against Great Britain ; but it 
has not had a turbulent political career, for it contains no rich 
gold mines to bring a rush of Uitlanders into its territory. 
Indeed, it is an ideal state for all who would avoid the excite- 
ments of the modern world. It has no cities, no political 
parties, and no disturbing social questions. Its people are 
neither rich nor poor, but they live in entire contentment on 
the moderate means which are within the reach of all. The 
Boers themselves number about 70,000, and comprise by far 
the greater part of the white population. There are less than 
150,000 Africans in the country, while in the Transvaal there 
are more than 600,000. The only village that can fairly be 
called a town is Bloemfontein, the capital, which has 6000 
inhabitants, of whom little more than half are white. The 
form of government is very much like that of the Transvaal. 
There is a President elected for five years, an Executive Coun- 
cil of five members, and a Volksraad whose members are chosen 
for four years, and who make the sole legislative chamber. 
Here, as in the Transvaal, the President has no power of veto ; 
but here, also, he has become the centre of power. The restric- 



CHAP. VIII SOUTH AFRICA 379 

tions upon the suffrage are so slight that practically it belongs 
to all white citizens who make their home in the State. For 
the Boers have found no occasion to adopt the narrow policy 
of the Transvaal, and to keep the right of voting exclusively 
in their own hands. 

Such are the Colonies and Republics of South Africa. It is 
too early to prophesy how or when they will become united. 
But that they will all ultimately become members of one con- 
federation under Great Britain's control there can be no reason- 
able doubt. 



I 



BOOK III 
THE UNITED STATES 



CHAPTER I 

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE REPUBLIC 

" Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth 
upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and 
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." 
These words, spoken by Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg in 
1863, are as accurate as they are famous. They point to 1776 
as the year when the United States had its national origin, 
and they point to democracy as its national foundation stone. 

It was in 1774 that the First Continental Congress was 
assembled in Philadelphia, Massachusetts taking the lead in 
calling it together. But not until 1776 were the members of 
Congress ready to declare the colonies free and independent ; 
for the Americans were at first desirous of forcing England to 
treat them with fairness and justice rather than of severing all 
ties with the mother-country. Gradually, however, they learned 
to see the meaning of the conflict in which they were engaged. 
On July 4, 1776, the Philadelphia Congress adopted the 
famous Declaration of Independence, and the birth of a new 
nation was accomplished. 

Not all at once, however, could the nation show itself strong, 
self-assertive, and able to exercise vigorously all the functions 
of government. Eemembering the tyranny of Great Britain, 
the Colonies clung jealously to their own rights. They adopted 
Constitutions for themselves, and thereby became independent 
and sovereign States instead of colonies ; but they were slow 
to see that a Constitution was needed for all the States in com- 
mon, that thereby they might have a strong central govern- 
ment and acquire the respect of other nations. Moreover, the 
war with Great Britain absorbed the energies of Congress, and 
that body did not go farther in the direction of nation-making 
than to draw up thirteen Articles of Confederation for the 
States to adopt, if they saw fit. 

383 



384 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

Eleven of the States did adopt them in 1778, and thus a 
rude and imperfect form of national government came into be- 
ing. For the Articles gave the United States authority to treat 
with foreign powers; to declare war; to appoint officers for 
the army and the navy ; to control military affairs ; to levy 
taxes ; to fix the standard of money, weights, and measures ; 
to manage Indian affairs ; and to establish post-offices. But 
this government was after all a government only in name. It 
did not have distinct executive, legislative, and judicial depart- 
ments, and no one was empowered to enforce its authority. In 
short, it was utterly lacking in centralized power. 

Accordingly, when the war for independence was ended and 
the occupations of peace were resumed, the people of the States 
became more and more restless under this weak and inefficient 
control. They found themselves unable to collect their debts, 
to obtain protection from the courts, or to make trade and in- 
dustry prosper. Slowly but surely the need of a strong central 
government made itself manifest, and a convention was finally 
called by the States to assemble and to take into consideration 
the condition of the United States. On May 4, 1787, the con- 
vention met at Philadelphia in Independence Hall. The ablest 
political leaders and thinkers of the country were among its 
members, and its discussions were weighty, prolonged, and 
sometimes marked by radical differences of opinion. More 
than once, indeed, it seemed inevitable that tlie convention 
should break up without accomplishing the object for which it 
was called together. But, after sitting four months, it gave its 
sanction to a Constitution and submitted it to the States 
for their approval. Very slowly and reluctantly was this ap- 
proval given on the part of some of the States. New York, in 
particular, was quite unwilling to adopt the new Constitution, 
and was only made to do so by the convincing arguments of 
Alexander Hamilton. Virginia also took the decisive step only 
after much hesitation. But after these two great and strong 
States had set the example, the result was never in doubt. 
Nine States finally ratified the Constitution, and thus, accord- 
ing to the Convention, it became the law of the land. Two 
States, however. North Carolina and Rhode Island, did not adopt 
it until the newly established government was in operation. 

By providing a distinct executive, legislative, and judiciary. 



CHAP. I BEGINNINGS OF THE REPUBLIC 385 

and by giving to each of these branches of government clearly- 
defined and adequate powers, the Constitution made a power- 
ful and efficient central government possible. And that the 
powers are in almost every case adequate and well defined has 
been proved by the experience of a hundred years. To the 
President, to the Congress, and to the national courts of jus- 
tice were given that measure of authority that was neces- 
sary for a successful administration of affairs; for the three 
branches are perhaps as perfectly balanced as human wisdom 
could make them.^ No one of the three could receive any con- 
siderable increase of power without impairing the efficiency of 
the other two and endangering the democratic character of our 
institutions. It is true that abuses have grown up under the 
Constitution. The President's appointing power has been used 
to reward party service in a scandalous manner, and Congress 
has exercised its right to tax and to coin money with question- 
able freedom. But such abuses do not necessarily indicate 
that the Constitution itself is defective. Rather do they show 
that in a democracy the character of the government depends 
upon the character of the governed. Popular prejudice, pop- 
ular error, popular condonement of public immorality, are 
chiefly responsible for political scandals and corruptions. The 
civil service began to grow pure when the people demanded 
that it should be pure. And the national legislation will 
be sane, rational, and economical Avhen Congressmen are not 
allowed to abuse their constitutional authority without rebuke. 
It must be admitted that the clauses in the Constitution that 
give Congress the right to tax and to coin money are very gen- 
eral in character, and therefore bestow a power which is almost 
unlimited in its scope. But this could not be otherwise. The 
fundamental law of the land could not prescribe either the 
manner in which these important powers should be exercised, 
or the extent of the authority they convey. Such matters of 
detail were necessarily left to the judgment of Congress, which 
must have freedom to decide questions of coinage and taxation 
as the needs of the nation may from time to time require. 
That Congress has interpreted the taxation and coinage clauses 

1 Some students of American politics take a different view. Consult Wilson's 
"Congressional Government," and Bryce's "The American Commonwealth," 
Vol. I. Ch. XXI. (second edition revised, 1891). 
2c 



386 THE UNITED STATES 



properly, and has used the authority they bestow in a strictly 
constitutional manner, has been denied and afsvays will be 
denied. Indeed, the interpretation of these two clauses has been 
directly or indirectly the origin of much of the fiercest party 
strife that the nation has known. For some consider that it is 
unconstitutional to impose taxes for any other purpose than 
that of raising revenue, or to make the coinage clause cover the 
right to establish a legal tender ; while others believe that it is 
strictly constitutional to tax for the purpose of protecting and 
encouraging industry, and to force a coin into circulation by 
making it legal tender. But these differing schools of political 
thinkers did not come into existence because the language of 
the Constitution is loose and inadequate. They arose from 
two opposite tendencies of human thought. For whenever a 
document is under discussion, be it religious, political, or con- 
cerned with everyday affairs, there will always be fotind some 
who interpret it by the letter and others who judge it by its 
spirit. Hence the Constitution will always have its broad and 
its literal constructionists ; and its true meaning will come to 
light through the arguments and the political action of these 
two classes of expounders. 

That the Constitution is perfect it would be absurd to state ; 
for such an instrument reflects the limitations of its founders 
and of the period when it was framed. From time to time it 
has been necessary to amend it ; but the very character of the 
amendments is a tribute to its excellence. For they have 
always been designed to supplement and complete it, never to 
destroy or undo anything that was vital and fundamental. 
In constructing it, its f ramers did a noble work and earned the 
lasting gratitude of the country. Indeed, they builded better 
than they knew, for they could not foresee what difliculties 
and dangers the Eepublic would have to meet by the aid of 
this fundamental law. They did not realize that the country 
would grow vast until only the telegraph and the steam railway 
could hold its parts together and give them unity of thought 
and life. They did not know what mischief would be wrought 
by the spoils system, by financial heresies, and by extravagant 
legislation. Nor did they see that the cloud of slavery, then no 
bigger than a man's hand above the political horizon, was to 
overspread the sky. 



CHAPTER II 

ADMINISTRATIONS OF WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON 

New York was the first capital of the Republic, aud Wash- 
ington was its first President. Born in 1732, the great Vir- 
ginian was in the full vigor of his powers, and was able to 
guide the young and struggling nation through perilous seas. 
From the first day of his administration he found his task an 
arduous one. Already was the country disturbed by virulent 
party warfare; for the Federalists, who believed that the Con- 
stitution gave the government full and satisfactory powers, 
were vehemently opposed by the Anti-Federalists, who were 
enemies of centralization and stood ready to accuse Congress 
and the President of abusing their authority. Even the Cabi- 
net was not free from the dissensions of these rival factions ; 
for Washington made Hamilton, the leader of the Federal- 
ists, Secretary of the Treasury, while Jefferson, the foremost 
statesman of the Anti-Federalist party, served for a time as 
Secretary of State. These two engaged in many heated and 
acrimonious discussions ; but Jefferson retired from office early 
in 1794, while Hamilton retained his position in the Cabinet 
and continued to render the country those services whose 
value it is hard to overestimate. It was through his influence 
that the United States undertook to pay all sums which the 
Confederation had owed to foreigners, to receive the worthless 
continental currency and give good money in exchange for it, 
and to become resx:)onsible for all those debts which the States 
had incurred while acting for the good of the whole country. 
The last measure excited much opposition, however, and was 
only carried through Congress by means of a political bargain. 
It happened that the question of choosing a permanent capital 
city for the country was under discussion, and Hamilton won 
two Virginia Congressmen to his side by promising to use his 

387 



388 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

influence in favor of a site upon the Potomac. Thus the pas- 
sage of the obnoxious measure was secured, and the Rep\iblic 
proved itself a thoroughly honest debtor. Henceforth its credit 
was good all over the world. 

But Hamilton did not end his financial services to the country 
by seeing that it paid its debts. In order to bring the Govern- 
ment into close relations with the operations of business and 
commerce, he secured the establishment of a national bank 
under a United States charter. This project was not carried 
through without encountering the opposition of the Anti-Federal- 
ists, who saw in it a scheme to fortify the central authority, and 
who finally succeeded, with the aid of Jackson, in bringing the 
institution to an end. But the bank did good service for many 
years ; and, although it might possibly have been a source of 
corruption under present political conditions, it did not, while 
it lasted, promote those dishonest schemes which the Anti- 
Federalists, and afterwards the Democrats, continually laid at 
its doors. 

More important than the question of a national bank was 
that of raising a revenue. To this matter Hamilton gave much 
thought and Congress devoted much discussion. Direct taxa- 
tion was not in favor, and it was finally decided to tax imports 
and spirituous liquors made in the country. The duty on im- 
ports was imposed chiefly for the purpose of securing an income 
for the Government; but even in those early days it gave a 
certain measure of protection to native industries,^ and as the 
duties were raised again and again, their protective character 
assumed an ever increasing importance. Already therefore, in 
the very beginnings of the nation's history, the taxation clause 
is so interpreted as to give rise to those profound political dif- 
ferences which are as great to-day as they were a hundred years 
ago. So also did the tax on spirituous liquors have an impor- 
tance beyond that of swelling the national revenues. For it 
established the right of the Government to tax its citizens, and 
thus greatly helped to strengthen its authority. 

These various financial measures, which were for the most 
part attributable to Hamilton's genius, did much to win the 

1 Schouler's " United States," 1. 86 et seq. ; R. W. Thompson's " History of tlie 
Protective Tariff Laws," Ch. V. ; Orrin Leslie Elliot's " Tariff Controversy in 
the United States," 1789-1833, pp. 70-73. 



CHAP. II WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON 389 

Republic the respect of foreign nations ; but England and 
France, the two powers with which it was especially desirous 
of having intercourse, were slow to give it the treatment due 
to an equal. England, being at war with France, claimed the 
right to search vessels for seamen of British birth, to seize pro- 
visions for the enemy which she might find in neutral vessels, 
and to appropriate the produce of French Colonies wherever 
found ; while France sent to America a mischievous character 
named Genet, to excite sentiment in favor of his country and 
issue commissions to privateers. This manifest violation 
of neutrality Washington promptly brought to an ., end, but 
even he could not control the rancorous antagonism of the 
Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, who espoused respec- 
tively the cause of England and of France, and who made 
the country ring with their belligerent cries. Apparently, 
each party was willing to plunge the country into war with the 
nation it disliked, and to have it become the armed ally of the 
one it favored. In 1795 war with England seemed so immi- 
nent that Washington sent John Jay to London to avert it ; 
and though the treaty which Jay arranged still left England 
the right to search American vessels and was in other respects 
unsatisfactory, it was ratified by the Senate and signed by 
Washington. A loud outcry was raised against it when its 
provisions were known ; but Washington undoubtedly did right 
in giving it his signature, as he thereby saved the country from 
a conflict for which it was ill prepared. Moreover, merely by 
securing a treaty, though an imperfect one, from so great a 
power as England, the Eepublic gained strength and dignity 
before the world. 

Less important than this treaty, but nevertheless indicative 
of the nation's growing strength, was one that was made with 
Spain in the course of the same year. For the Spaniards 
claimed that they owned the Mississippi River as well as the 
country west of it, and had given great annoyance to the set- 
tlers in Kentucky and Tennessee, who desired to send their 
produce to New Orleans by boat. This privilege the Govern- 
ment secured for them by the Mississippi Treaty, which gave 
both Spain and the United States the free use of the river. 

On its own soil also the Government found opportunities of 
asserting itself. For Anthony Wayne crushed the Indians in 



390 THE UNITED STATES book iu 

the West after they had gained two signal victories over care- 
less generals ; and an insurrection which broke out in Penn- 
sylvania was promptly suppressed by military force. It was 
occasioned by the resistance of the settlers to the tax on dis- 
tilled spirits ; but the insurgents gave way when they found 
themselves pitted against the armed strength of the Govern- 
ment. 

Thus the young nation was steadily gaining in power under 
its first Executive. Washington retired from public life at the 
end of his second term, and he could look with entire satisfac- 
tion upon the progress made during his two administrations. 
The Constitution had proved adequate under the government 
which it had established, the weakness and instability of the 
Confederation had passed away, and the country had grown 
and flourished in spite of serious obstacles. It had met its 
financial obligations, raised its own revenues, treated with 
two foreign powers, avoided war under great provocation, en- 
forced law, and suppressed insurrection. The Republic there- 
fore was no longer a mere experiment. Through Washington's 
wise guidance it had become a nation. 

The second President of the United States was John Adams, 
a man narrow, obstinate, and quarrelsome, but inflexible iu his 
devotion to the public welfare. This devotion he had ample 
opportunity to show during his single term of office ; for, by 
preferring the good of the whole country to the demands of 
his own party, he wrought the downfall of the Federalists. 
Through prestige rather than through numbers the Federal- 
ists had maintained their ascendency up to this time and had 
elected their candidate, Adams, by a small majority in the 
Electoral College. But their lack of moderation and foresight 
now proved their undoing. During the earlier portion of 
Adams's administration the Anti-Federalists were under a 
cloud. For French cruisers seized hundreds of American ves- 
sels ; and when a special embassy was sent to France to re- 
monstrate, it was met with insulting and dishonest proposals. 
These proposals were indignantly rejected and the ambassa- 
dors were ordered to leave France. They did so ; but when 
the treatment they had received was made known in the United 
States, a storm of indignation swept over the land. France 
and all its partisans were severely condemned, and the Feder- 



CHAP. II WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON 391 

alists now had a great opportunity. But, instead of making 
the most of it, they now passed the Alien and Sedition Laws 
and compassed their own ruin. By the Alien Laws the Presi- 
dent could send out of the country any foreigner whom he 
considered dangerous to its peace ; and by the Sedition Laws 
he could fine and imprison those guilty of conspiring against 
the Government, or acting maliciously toward it. 

Li passing these laws the Federalists had counted on the 
support of the country, but they only succeeded in exciting 
the alarm of the opponents of centralization. The new laws 
were widely censured. The legislatures of Virginia and Ken- 
tucky even declared them unconstitutional, and threatened to 
withhold allegiance to the Government. Moreover, a new 
embassy was sent to France and was favorably received by 
Kapoleon Bonaparte, who now directed French policy. The 
cruisers ceased to capture American vessels, and a satisfactory 
treaty between the two countries was concluded. Toward this 
result Adams himself labored assiduously, preferring peace to 
an ignoble party triumph. But the Federalists felt that they 
were abandoned by their leader; and as England, whose inter- 
ests they had championed, still acted in an overbearing manner, 
their policy had nothing to recommend it to the country. 
Unable to avert political defeat, they held Adams responsible 
for their loss of prestige and power, and bitterly accused him 
of ingratitude toward those who had secured him his high 
office. But Adams's course had been too patriotic to be justly 
open to censure ; and even the Federalists ultimately acknowl- 
edged this by endeavoring to secure his reelection. He 
received sixty-five votes in the Electoral College; but Jef- 
ferson and Burr each had seventy-three, and the election was 
therefore thrown upon the House of Representatives.^ In that 
body Jefferson received a majority, and the Anti-Federalists, 
who were now called National Republicans, thus completed 
their triumph over their political opponents. 

Thomas Jefferson is remembered chiefly as a writer and 
thinker, but as an Executive he showed unusual capacity. He 

1 It was owing to the troubles that arose from this electoral contest that 
the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1804, and electors 
were thenceforth required to vote separately for President and Vice-President. 
Before this an elector balloted for two names, without specifying the office 
each of his two candidates was to hold. 



392 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

was reelected in 1804, and, during his two administrations, he 
reduced the public debt, fortified the seaports, lightened taxa- 
tion, rendered the militia more efficient, and secured lands 
from the Indians by giving them fair compensation and induc- 
ing them to migrate west of the Mississippi. With the help 
of Decatur he also humbled the Barbary pirates, who infested 
the Mediterranean and seriously interfered with the commerce 
of maritime nations. But unquestionably the greatest service 
that Jefferson rendered the country was the purchase of the 
Louisiana tract, in 1803. Pressed by the exigencies of war, 
Napoleon parted with that vast territory for the sum of fiifteen 
million dollars. In assuming the authority to make the pur- 
chase, Jefferson clearly went beyond the powers delegated to 
him by the Constitution, and thereby showed strikingly how 
political theory must sometimes give way to national require- 
ments.'' For he, the avowed champion of the Anti-Federalists, 
greatly strengthened the central Government. But, whatever 
may be thought of his consistency, he conferred a vast benefit 
upon the country by this action, which was ratified by Congress 
and heartily approved by the people. 

Not equally successful was Jefferson's management of our 
foreign relations. France and England were still at war, and, 
in their efforts to cripple each other's commerce, they practised 
high-handed tyranny upon the sea. Napoleon claimed the 
right to seize all vessels trading with England or her Colonies; 
while England prohibited all commerce with France or her 
allies. Thus the growing trade of America was checked, and 
Jefferson determined to bring these two arrogant nations to 
terms by an act of retaliation. He therefore persuaded Con- 
gress to pass an Embargo Bill, which forbade United States 
vessels to leave American ports for Europe. But it was the 
United States that suffered chiefly from this measure. For 
the nation soon grew impoverished, and discontent became 

1 Jefferson himself said of the purchase, in his correspondence: "The 
Executive, in seizing the fugitive occurrence wliich so much advances the 
good of the country, has done an act beyond the Constitution. The Legisla- 
ture, in casting behind them metaphysical subtleties, and risking themselves 
like faithful servants, must ratify and pay for it, and throw themselves on the 
country for doing for them, unauthorized, what we know they would have 
done for themselves had they been in a situation to do.it." — "Works," IV. 
500 (edition published at Washington in 1853). 



CHAP. II WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON 393 

■widespread. So the Embargo Bill was repealed, and in its 
place was passed a Non-Intercourse Act, which allowed com- 
merce with other European countries than England and France. 
By this measure the situation was improved, but was still 
strained and difficult. Oaly wise statesmanship could keep 
the nation from ultimately engaging in war with one or the 
other of these two powers. 

During Jefferson's administrations new lands were occupied 
and cu.ltivated, and the Republic steadily grew in population. 
The valley of the Ohio was now becoming settled, and there 
was a continuous flow of hardy pioneers across the southern 
stretches of the Alleghany Mountains into the "dark and 
bloody ground." And significant it was that the first success- 
ful application of steam to navigation was contemporaneous 
with this early westward migration. Robert Fulton's ^ first 
steamboat, the Clermont, plied on the Hudson in 1807; and 
this invention meant much more than rapid transit on the 
water. It meant that American ingenuity was at work; that 
successive inventions were to triumph over distance and mul- 
tiply the power of human labor; and that thus the vast extent 
of the country was to offer no barrier to intercourse, and its 
vast resources were to be made available for national 
prosperity. 

But more important than this external growth of the country 
was a quiet movement that attracted no attention at the time. 
The Supreme Court of the land was helping to solidify the 
nation. Its justices were able men, and their decisions were, 
on the whole, in favor of national unity and against State 
sovereignty. Of these justices the ablest was John Marshall 
of Virginia. His remarkable breadth of mind and his profound 
knowledge of the law, used as they were to strengthen the 
power of the central Government, were of inestimable service 
to the American people.^ 

1 John Fitch was the real inventor of the steamboat. As early as 1790 
a small steam vessel, constructed by him, carried passengers up and down 
the Delaware during the entire summer. 

2 It is impossible to understand thoroughly the political history of the 
United States without studying the more important decisions of the Supreme 
Bench, especially those rendered while the nation was still in its infancy and 
the powers of the central Government were not clearly apprehended. Con- 
sult Boyd's " Cases on Constitutional Law " ; or the larger collection of cases 
by Professor Thayer. 



CHAPTER III 

THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON, MONROE, AND JOHN 
QUINCY ADAMS 

Jefferson was succeeded by James Madison, also a Repub- 
lican, on March 4, 1809. The very day that Madison assumed 
office the Non-Intercourse Act went into operation, and the 
measure seemed ominous of the troubles of the administration. 
For France and England were still injuring our commerce 
by their tyrannical edicts, the conduct of the latter power 
being particularly offensive. Its warships seized hundreds of 
American vessels and impressed thousands of American sea- 
men; while Napoleon, seeing that these high-handed actions 
roused the bitterest resentment in the United States, deter- 
mined to profit by the situation. He promised that, so far as 
tbe United States was concerned, he would withdraw his 
decrees prohibiting commerce with England. Madison was 
duped by the promise. At his recommendation Congress 
repealed the Non-Intercourse Act so far as it related to France ; 
and the relations between the United States and England 
became exceedingly strained. England's aggressions upon the 
sea did not cease. The war party in the United States became 
urgent and clamorous. Hence, even though Napoleon never 
repealed his obnoxious edicts as he had promised, Madison 
consented to a declaration of war against England, which was 
formally made on June 18, 1812. 

The war lasted two years and a half. The Americans suffered 
several defeats through inferior generalship; yet they won 
some signal victories on land, and on the sea they were almost 
uniformly victorious. But as the war dragged on, it was seen 
to have no sufficient cause, and both nations became tired of 
it. So peace was signed on December 24, 1814. 

By the terms of the treaty England did not agree to abandon 

394 



CHAP. HI MADISON, MONROE, AND J. Q. ADAMS 395 

the right to search American vessels; but the right was no 
longer exercised, and the United States thus derived a sub- 
stantial advantage from the war. More important than this 
gain, however, was the respect which the Republic acquired 
all over the civilized world. Six months after peace was estab- 
lished with Great Britain, Decatur humbled the Barbary States 
a second time; and this success, added to the naval victories 
gained in the recent war, gave the United States the character 
of a powerful and independent nation. Moreover, the War of 
1812 revealed the growth of a truly national character. Of the 
men of 1755 Parkman writes, " The colonist was not then an 
American; he was simply a provincial, — and a narrow one."* 
Perhaps this could not have been said at the close of the Revo- 
lution; but at any rate it could not be said after the War of 
1812. The victories of the American navy were truly national 
victories. They were won by no accident. They were due to 
the intelligence, the alertness, the enthusiasm, and the rapid 
movements of the American seamen. Already it was becom- 
ing apparent that " a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated 
to the proposition that all men are created equal " must produce 
its own peculiar type of citizen. 

A further result of the war was the change that was now 
made in the character of the nation's financial legislation. 
For, after peace was established, Congress found that domestic 
commerce was paralyzed, foreign trade crippled, and the coun- 
try burdened with a debt of one hundred million dollars. 
Accordingly, it not only resorted to increased taxation for the 
purpose of filling the depleted treasury, but it also adopted a dis- 
tinctive protective policy in order to encourage the languishing 
industries of the country. In particular, it was desired that 
the cotton grown in the South should be made into fabrics by 
domestic labor; for England was taxing American cotton in 
order to stimulate cotton raising in India, and was thus injur- 
ing the market for the South's staple product. So a new tariff 
law was passed in 1816; and though the duties it established 
were still moderate, averaging only about fifteen per cent, 
they were still high enough to accomplish what was expected 
from them. The Southern planter now found a market for his 
cotton in New England, where cotton cloths began to be made 
1 " Montcalm and Wolfe," 1. 169. 



396 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

in great quantities; manufacturers grew rich, and men and 
women found employment in the factories. Thus the nation 
became committed to the policy of protection, and the tariff 
law of 1816 must be considered the most important event of 
Madison's administrations; for, though it brought immediate 
prosperity, it soon helped to divide the North and the South 
and to intensify party warfare. 

In 1817 Madison was succeeded by James Monroe of Vir- 
ginia, who was reelected in 1820. The period covered by his 
two administrations has been called the Era of Good Feeling; 
for the people of the country forgot the animosities of party 
under the influence of prosperity and universal contentment. 
Yet political dissension had not died out of the nation. On 
the contrary it was striking its roots deeper than ever. Very 
soon the old quarrel between the supporters of the central 
Government and the champions of State rights was to break 
out again; and even in Monroe's first administration there 
were heard mutterings of the coming storm. For slavery, 
recognized, though not formally and explicitly countenanced, 
in the Constitution, had developed a vast political significance, 
and now began to force itself upon the attention of the nation. 
The framers of the Constitution expected slavery to die of 
itself in the course of no long period of years; so they said 
as little about it as possible. But the invention of the cotton 
gin by Eli Whitney, in 1793, prevented this expectation from 
becoming realized. It made slave labor valuable. To the 
Southern planter cotton stood for wealth, and the negro for 
the tool that brought this wealth into his coffers. Hence, he 
began to regard slavery as vital to the prosperity of the South. 
He would not hear of its decline. He imperiously demanded 
that it should grow and flourish. 

Thus slavery became part of the very fibre of Southern life. 
It gave a peculiar character to the entire region that cherished 
it. Indeed, it caused a distinct and special type of civilization 
to grow up in the United States; for the institution exercised 
a separative influence, from whatever side it was regarded. 
Its various aspects therefore demand a moment's attention. 
It may appropriately be considered from the social, the 
economic, and the humanitarian points of view. 

I. The influence of slavery upon the social life of the 



CHAP. Ill MADISON, MONROE, AND J. Q. ADAMS 397 

South was profound and far-reaching. Life on a Southern 
plantation was almost ideally delightful; ease, dreamy quiet, 
repose, and languor steeped the very atmosphere. The asperi- 
ties, the fierce excitements, and the wearing competitions of 
business life were absent. On the best estates high-bred 
manners, social grace, and the most generous hospitality were 
conspicuous. The plantations being extensive, and families, 
in consequence, being separated by considerable distances, 
neighborly intercourse took a very different character from that 
of a 'New England village. The planters kept open house, 
welcomed all their friends from the surrounding country, and 
visits were measured by days and weeks rather than by hours. 
Education was not developed as it was in New England, but 
the intellectual life was by no means barren. The planter 
read and studied much in the solitude of his own library, and 
discussed politics at length when he visited the estates adjoin- 
ing his own. He had the genius for affairs that belongs to the 
English character. Southern statesmen have been conspicuous 
for political learning, intellectual vigor, and keenness in 
debate. Nor were profound scholarship and scientific research 
unknown on the Southern plantation. But the indolence 
engendered by slavery made such mental achievement unprofit- 
able to the world at large. The slave-owner studied and 
acquired, but he did not publish. Even in his intellectual 
pursuits he was rather the gentleman of leisure than the 
scholar. The unrest of the modern world did not reach and 
possess him. 

II. Economically considered, slavery was a great hindrance 
to Southern prosperity. The immense mineral resources of 
the South were neglected. The wealth of her forests was 
hardly touched. Factories were almost unknown. Cotton 
was king. Nearly all other products were passed by in favor 
of this one staple article. From some of the States rice, tur- 
pentine, and other articles were exported; but corn, bacon, 
and various foods were produced chiefly to satisfy home con- 
sumption and maintain the slaves. It was on cotton that the 
planter relied for his yearly income. 

Thus the whole South was only half developed; its indus- 
tries were narrowed, its faculties were without due stimulus. 
Its people lacked variety of occupation. Their ingenuity 



398 THE UNITED STATES book iii 

received no exercise. They were not trained to do all things 
for themselves, as they found to their sorrow when the Civil 
War came. Moreover, slave labor was very costly. The 
freeman works with intelligence, with care, with thrift, with 
energy. The slave is stupid, clumsy, wasteful, and listless in 
performing his appointed tasks. He plies his tools with indo- 
lence and breaks them often. It is asserted that one freeman 
in the North did as much as two or three negro slaves. 

III. The cruelty of slavery in the Southern States has often 
been exaggerated; but at best the institution was not a humane 
one. In Virginia the negroes were well off. They were treated 
with great kindness, were sometimes regarded with affection, 
and, on the whole, were a very happy and contented class. 
They were often deeply attached to their masters; and among 
the Virginia planters there existed a strong feeling against 
abusing them. And the same could be said of other parts of 
the South where the institution existed under the most favor- 
able conditions. Where a planter was kind-hearted and tlie 
slaves were not exceptionally stupid, vicious, and indolent, all 
was well. But many slave-owners were harsh and passionate, 
and employed brutal overseers to keep the slaves in order. 
And in some portions of the South the slaves were extremely 
coarse, brutish, and degraded, and could only be kept in order 
through fear. In such cases cruelty was common. Moreover, 
the whole process of slave auctions was a degrading one. 
Families were separated, men and women were examined and 
criticised like cattle, and the passion of greed was excited by 
the sight of human flesh. 

Altogether, there was enough that was baneful in the insti- 
tution to excite the just censure of Northern philanthropists. 
The strictures of these enthusiasts were indeed undiscriminat- 
ing and unreasonably severe, but they had some justification. 
So the Abolitionists lashed the institution unsparingly, and 
stirred up much bitter feeling between the North and the 
South. 

Thus slavery contributed in every possible way to the rupture 
of the Union. Its social, its economic, and its humanitarian 
sides all helped to give Southern life a distinctive character, 
and to prevent the South from amalgamating with the rest of 
the country. More and more did the people of the South learn 



CHAP. Ill MADISON, MONROE, AND J. Q. ADAMS 399 

to think and feel for their own section rather than for the 
country at large, and more and more did they desire to obtain 
new territory for the spread of their "peculiar institution." 
For they were unwilling to see the free States gain the ascen- 
dency in the national Congress, Kentucky and Tennessee were 
properly admitted to the Union as slave States, for they were 
formed out of territory which the original slave States of the 
South had ceded to the Government. Nor was objection made 
to the admission of Louisiana as a slave State in 1812; for her 
position identified her with the South, and the imminence of 
war made the question of slavery seem insignificant. But when 
Missouri applied for admission as a slave State, in 1817, the 
Korth began to take alarm. It was now seen that the South 
meant to carry slavery into the whole Louisiana purchase; 
and to such an extension of slave territory Northern statesmen 
were bitterly opposed. Missouri's application therefore 
aroused fierce discussion in Congress ; and, finally, occasioned 
the passage of the famous Missouri Compromise Bill in 1821. 
By this bill, which was passed largely through the influence of 
Henry Clay, slavery was allowed in Missouri, but was forever 
prohibited in all the territory west of that State and north of 
its southern border, 36° 30'. Thus, political differences were 
for the time being adjusted; but the day of trouble was merely 
postponed.' The difficulty was too great to be settled by com- 
promise. Two civilizations were face to face within the borders 
of the same nation; one of them must eventually give way 
before the other. So slavery had assumed the place in the 
national politics that of right belonged to it. For forty years 
it remained the one vital and absorbing question before the 
country. 

Less threatening to the nation's welfare, yet of grave impor- 
tance, was a question of foreign policy that now arose; for it 
was in Monroe's second administration that the famous Mon- 
roe Doctrine was first formulated. It owed its origin to the 
war for independence which was waged by the Spanish Colo- 
nies in America against their mother-country. For, seeing 

1 The Annual Report of the American Historical Association for 1893 
contains an excellent essay on the " Historical Significance of the Missouri 
Compromise," whicli shows that this episode was the beginning of the long 
struggle between the North and the South. 



400 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

that some of the European powers were inclined to help Spain 
in her effort to subdue her rebellious provinces (p. 238), 
President Monroe deemed it best that the United States should 
utter a warning against foreign aggression. Accordingly, in 
his message to Congress of December 2, 1823,^ he says: "We 
owe it to candor and to the amicable relations existing between 
the United States and those powers to declare that we should 
consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any 
portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety." 

This utterance is strong and unconlpromising, but its true 
nature has been greatly misunderstood. For it was simply an 
attempt at self-protection. At that time the Republic was 
young and struggling, popular government was an experiment, 
and Europe was still, for the most part, under despotic Tule. 
It therefore seemed necessary to warn the powers of Europe 
that the United States would not allow them to establish any- 
where on the American continent despotic governments, which 
would be a menace to free democratic institutions. But after 
the Republic became a great and powerful nation, it no longer 
needed to protect itself against foreign schemes of conquest in 
the western hemisphere ; and the Monroe Doctrine largely lost 
its significance. 

Monroe's second term ended in 1825. John Quincy Adams, 
who succeeded him, was the son of John Adams, the second 
President of the United States, and, like his father, he was 
not reelected. Honest, fearless, and independent, he yet 
lacked the qualities that bring popularity. His abilities and 
his eminent diplomatic services to his country had made him 
distinguished; but so little enthusiasm did he awaken among 
the people that Jackson, his leading opponent in the presi- 
dential election of 1824, commanded a larger number of votes 
in the electoral college. Neither of them, however, had a 
majority, and the House of Representatives was therefore 
called upon to decide the election, as provided by the Twelfth 
amendment to the Constitution. Largely through Henry 
Clay's influence the House elected Adams. As Jackson was 
the choice of the people at large, this action of the House was 
denounced by some fierce partisans as unconstitutional. But 
unquestionably the House acted strictly within its rights. If 
^ " Messages and Papers of the Presidents," II. 218. 



CHAP. Ill MADISON, MONROE, AND J. Q. ADAMS 401 

it is to decide such cases at all, its decision must be free and 
not perfunctory. And this view of the matter prevailed 
throughout the country, which accepted the judgment of the 
House quietly and without disturbance. 

The most important question that came up during Adams's 
administration was that of State Sovereignty. It was not the 
negroes, however, but the Indians who now gave this issue 
prominence. Growing covetous of the tracts occupied by the 
Creeks and the Cherokees, Georgia tried to eject them, though 
they held these lands under treaty with the United States. 
These tribes were partially civilized, and were tilling their 
lands in peace and contentment; but, instead of protecting 
them, the national Government allowed Georgia to have its 
way in the matter, though it first made a vain effort to bribe 
the Indians to go. During Jackson's administration the 
Indians were compelled to abandon their lands and move 
westward; and in a matter where the honor of the country 
was at stake, an individual State was suffered to act in defiance 
of a national agreement. 

The question of State sovereignty was involved also in the 
tariff law of 1828, by which the duties upon exports were still 
further increased. For, by passing this law, Congress added 
to the discontent of the Southern planters and raised discus- 
sions as to the legitimate extent of its own authority. Already 
was it becoming plain that, as the central Government assumed 
new powers, its critics would challenge its right to exercise 
those powers, and that thus two great political parties would 
always stand arrayed against each other. And as if to illus- 
trate this fundamental political truth, the Era of Good Feeling 
now came to an end, and the single party that had existed 
since the collapse of the Federalists was divided into two. 
One of these two was the legitimate successor of the party 
which had always embraced the ideas of the Anti-Federalists, 
and had been in power for twenty years. Its members called 
themselves Democrats, — a name which they have ever since 
retained, — and, as if to justify the title, they selected as their 
candidate for the presidency that thoroughgoing man of the 
people, Andrew Jackson. For Vice-President they nominated 
John C. Calhoun. The other party, which took the name of 
National Republicans, inherited the principles of the early 
2d 



402 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

Federalists ; but it was largely a product of the material growth 
and the expanding powers of the nation. Its members believed 
that, in order to develop the vast resources of the country and 
to meet new commercial and agricultural conditions, the powers 
of the central Government should be amplified and its field 
of activity enlarged. A high tariff and extensive internal 
improvements were the cardinal points of its creed. But 
while these ideas were popular in tlie North, they Avere too 
new to find general acceptance; and, in giving Adams a second 
nomination, the National Republican party insured its own 
defeat. For Adams had as little hold as ever upon the com- 
mon people, while Jackson had an enthusiastic following all 
over the country. Accordingly, the presidential contest was 
too one-sided to be exciting, Adams and Rush — the National 
Republican candidate for Vice-President — obtaining but 83 
electoral votes, against 178 cast for their opponents. 

But, though deprived of a second presidential term, Adams 
did not retire to private life. On the contrary, the most 
creditable portion of his public career was still before him; 
for he represented Massachusetts in the House of Representa- 
tives for twenty years, and fearlessly advocated the right of 
petition against the intolerance, the threats, and the arrogance 
of his political opponents. Believing that any citizens in the 
land had an absolute and sacred right to petition Congress 
upon whatsoever subject they pleased, he presented to the 
House numerous petitions upon the burning question of 
slavery. Naturally, this course aroused the Southern mem- 
bers of Congress to furious resentment, but in the end they 
learned to respect the lofty courage, the caustic speech, and 
the uncompromising character of the invincible debater; and 
when Adams was suddenly stricken with paralysis in the 
Representative chamber, in 1848, the South mourned equally 
with the North over the loss of the grand and incorruptible 
statesman. His services in behalf of free speech entitle him 
to a high rank among the patriots of the country; and no 
American ever gave a more splendid example of unswerving 
devotion to public duty. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON AND VAN BUREN 

The two administrations of Jackson were a period of great 
national importance. The country gained rapidly in wealth 
and population, and the public debt was entirely cleared in 
1835. The States of Arkansas and Michigan were admitted 
to the Union. Steam was successfully applied to locomotion, 
and the railway system was rapidly developed. Industry was 
promoted by other important inventions, conspicuous among 
which were the reaping machine and the screw propeller. 

But the political happenings of the period were of greater 
consequence than its material prosperity. From the first Jack- 
son showed himself a vigorous executive, and, right or wrong, 
acted up to his convictions. He promptly discharged about 
seven hundred office-holders, because they were not of his 
party, and thereby inaugurated the vicious spoils system ; ^ 
and he finally attacked the National Bank, which he accused 
of corruption and denounced as a menace to the free institu- 
tions of the country. His charges were not well founded. 
The bank had done good service in providing the country with 
a sound and uniform currency and in promoting commercial 
enterprise. So Congress renewed its charter in 1832. But 
Jackson vetoed the measure, and as Congress could not pass it 
over the veto, the bank had to close its affairs when its charter 
expired, in 1837. 

In spite of the unfairness of Jackson's accusations, his hos- 
tility toward the bank was not without justification. Such an 
institution may easily become the seat of corrupt political 
intrigue, and exert an undue influence upon elections and 

1 .Jefferson did the same thing, but his action was not imitated by the 
Presidents wlio followed him, and it was less important than Jackson's action 
because there were comparatively few United States oflS.ces in his day. 

403 



404 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

other national affairs. At any rate, Jackson's conduct met 
with the approval of the country, for he was renominated by 
the Democrats in 1832 and triumphantly reelected over his 
rival, Henry Clay, who was the candidate of the National 
Republicans. In the electoral college he received all but 49 
out of 288 votes.") 

With this popular verdict in his favor Jackson did not allow 
his warfare on the bank to cease. He gave orders that the 
government revenues should be deposited in the State banks 
instead of in the National Bank, as had been the custom; and 
when the Secretary of the Treasury refused to carry out this 
policy, Jackson removed him and appointed a more pliable 
official in his place. For this action he was formally censured 
by the Senate, and condemned by his political opponents gen- 
erally; but the people admired the independence he had shown, 
and his friends eventually succeeded in getting the Senate to 
expunge its vote of censure. 

Still greater approval did Jackson win by his attitude toward 
Nullification. The tariff duties, which had been slightly raised 
under Adams (p. 401), were still further increased by Congress 
in 1832. This angered the South, which now began to take an 
extreme position in favor of State rights, and against the 
supremacy of the national Government. Its statesmen 
appealed to the Constitution to support their views, and pre- 
sented their case with cogency and skill. Robert Hayne of 
South Carolina became one of their foremost spokesmen, and 
in the United States Senate he argued with great power that, 
by the very terms of the Constitution, the States kept their 
sovereignty and could refuse to obey any act of Congress which 
they considered oppressive. But Daniel Webster of Massa- 
chusetts showed conclusively that this interpretation of the 
Constitution would forever prevent the United States from 
becoming a nation. 

The South was silenced for the time being, but it was not 
convinced. South Carolina in particular was rebellious about 
the tariff laws, and threatened to resist their execution. She 
even went so far as to pass an ordinance declaring them null. 
Hence the term "nullification." But she gave way when she 
found that Jackson would use the entire military strength of 
the country to compel her to obedience. Moreover, the dis- 



CHAP. IV JACKSON AKD VAN BUREN 405 

satisfaction of the Southern States was largely removed by the 
modification of the tariff laws. Congress saw with regret the 
seditious tendencies manifested in South Carolina. So, in 
1833, it passed the "Compromise Tariff," by which the duties 
were lessened each year until 1842. After the passage of this 
measure the tariff question did not again become a prominent 
political issue until after the Civil War. 

By his strong stand for the Union Jackson undoubtedly 
helped his party. The National Kepublicans, who now took 
the name of Whigs, did not even make nominations for the 
national elections in 1836. Hence, the Democratic candidates, 
Martin Van Buren of New York and Richard M. Johnson of 
Kentucky, won an easy victory, though General Harrison, 
Daniel Webster, Hugh L. White, and W. P. Magnum each 
received votes in the Electoral College. Van Buren was Secre- 
tary of State in Jackson's first administration and Vice-Presi- 
dent during his second term. Before that he had been United 
States Senator and Governor of New York. He was an able 
and thoroughly upright man, but his reelection was made 
impossible, for his administration came at an unfortunate 
period and suffered from disastrous occurrences for which he 
was not responsible. At the time when he succeeded to office 
the nation had been gaining rapidly in wealth. Revenue 
exceeded expenditure, and the treasury had accumulated a 
surplus of forty million dollars. This sum was, by act of 
Congress, distributed among the States. As a result, money 
became plentiful; banks were multiplied; speculation was 
widespread. The new banks flooded the country with worth- 
less paper money, which for a time was universally received. 
But even in Jackson's time the currency had become so inflated 
that Jackson issued a circular forbidding the United States 
land offices to accept anything but specie in payment for gov- 
ernment land. This action was wise and patriotic, and it pro- 
tected the Government; but it helped to bring on a financial 
crisis. In Van Buren' s administration much of the paper 
money of the country was found to be irredeemable, and specie 
disappeared from circulation. The result was a commercial 
panic, which caused stringency in the money market and 
numerous failures. 

The country gradually recovered from its financial embar- 



406 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

rassments ; but, to prevent them from recurring, Congress, at 
the President's suggestion, adopted the subtreasury system. 
Heretofore the government moneys had been deposited in the 
National Bank or in the State banks. By the new system 
they were placed, as fast as they were collected, in the national 
treasury or in subtreasuries established in the leading cities 
of the country. Thus the vast funds of the Government could 
no longer be used to promote business enterprise and commer- 
cial activity; yet the change was undoubtedly for the country's 
good. For the old system, though it had performed a use, was 
a dangerous one. It led to abuses while it lasted; it would 
have resulted in still graver ones as the government income 
grew and the task of dividing it fairly among the banks became 
increasingly difficult. Nor does private capital now need any 
increase from government funds. For the wealth of the coun- 
try is so great that the rates of interest have become low, and 
profitable investments are not always easily found. 

Van Buren was renominated by his party in 1840; but Gen- 
eral Harrison, the Whig candidate, was widely popular on 
account of bis brilliant military career, and swept the country. 



CHAPTER V 

THE ADMINISTRATIOKS OF HARRISON AND TYLER, POLK, AND 
TAYLOR AND FILLMORE 

President Harrison had shown some administrative ability 
as Governor of Indian Territory. Whether he would have 
proved an efficient executive of the nation cannot be deter- 
mined, for he died only a month after his inauguration. John 
Tyler, the Vice-President, succeeded him, and proved a disap- 
pointment to the Whig party. He had been accounted a Whig, 
because he was opposed to nullification. But he did not ap- 
prove of a national bank; and when the Whigs, who had a 
majority in Congress, voted to recharter the Bank, Tyler vetoed 
the measure. The Whigs were not able to pass it over the veto 
and fiercely accused the President of disloyalty to his party. 

In the course of Tyler's administration the Independent 
Treasury Bill was repealed ; a bankrupt law was passed ; the 
northeast boundary of the United States was settled on its 
present basis by Mr. Webster, who as Secretary of State very 
ably represented the country's interests ; and the Mormons, 
after vain efforts to establish themselves in Missouri and 
Illinois, settled near the Great Salt Lake and founded the 
Territory of Utah. 

But the absorbing question before the country was the annex- 
ation of Texas. It was not a new question in Tyler's adminis- 
tration. Texas won her independence from Mexico in 1836 
and at once applied for admission to the Union. But Van 
Buren, who feared a war with Mexico, opposed the proposi- 
tion, and it was for the time being abandoned. In the last 
year of Tyler's administration, however, the question came up 
again. The Democrats were strongly in favor of annexation, 
and the Whigs opposed it. The whole country was excited 

407 



408 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

over the situation, and annexation became the vital question 
in the presidential campaign of 1844. 

If Texas were admitted, she would be admitted as a slave 
State, and thus slavery was once more serving to divide the 
North and the South. Arkansas had been admitted as a slave 
State in 1836, and Michigan as a free State in 1837. The 
States were now half slave and half free ; but the latter were 
gaining rapidly on the former in population. Therefore, un- 
less new slave States should be added to the Union, the South- 
ern members of Congress would be in a hopeless minority. 
But Northern Congressmen were determined that they should 
be in a minority, as they viewed the slave power with increas- 
ing dread. They were therefore bitterly opposed to the acqui- 
sition of any new territory which would allow slavery to grow 
and expand. As men of this political type were for the most 
part Whigs, the Whig party became largely identified with 
their views. All the voters in the North who were opposed to 
the spread of slavery identified themselves with the Whig 
party ; while the men of the South were almost uniformly 
Democrats. But the North was not united, while the South 
was. So the Democrats gained a victory in 1844 by carrying 
the State of New York, and elected their candidates, James 
Polk of Tennessee and George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania. 
The Whig candidate was Henry Clay, and his defeat was a 
bitter disappointment to him. He was now becoming an old 
man, and he could hardly hope for another presidential nomi- 
nation. 

The new President did not prove a strong or able head of 
the nation. He simply carried out the wishes of his party, as 
he had been expected to do. A consistent Democrat, a man 
of dignified and estimable character, he lacked vigorous self- 
assertion, and at no time did he think of opposing the slave 
power. 

So the scheme of annexation was easily carried through 
under Polk's administration. Congress did not even wait for 
his inauguration before attacking the question. On March 1, 
1845, it was voted to admit Texas into the Union. President 
Tyler immediately approved the measure ; the legislature of • 
Texas ratified it in July, 1845 ; and Texas became one of the 
United States. 



CHAP. V HARRISON TO FILLMORE 409 

But the war with Mexico which Van Buren had feared soon 
followed. Mexico could not reasonably resent the adoption of 
Texas into the Union, seeing that Texas had become an inde- 
pendent State ; but the southern boundary of Texas was a 
matter of dispute. Mexico and Texas both claimed the terri- 
tory between the rivers Nueces and Rio Grande. The United 
States adopted the Texan view of the matter and went to war 
over it, though not without first trying to settle the difficulty 
by arbitration. 

The war with Mexico was not popular in the North, and 
many Northern statesmen believed it to be utterly unjustifia- 
ble. They looked upon it as a war of aggression, needlessly 
brought upon the country in order to win territory for slavery. 
But however discreditable it was to the national honor, it was 
highly creditable to American valor. The United States forces 
sent into Mexico were ridiculously small, but they proved in- 
vincible. They defeated armies that far outnumbered them, 
and Mexico got nothing but humiliation from the conflict. 

Hostilities began in the spring of 1845, though war was not 
formally declared until a year later. In the summer of 1846 
the United States armies entered Mexico. Before the end of 
September in the following year the country was completely 
conquered, and meanwhile the power of Mexico had been 
overthrown in New Mexico and California. So when peace 
was made in the winter of 1847-48, not only was the Rio 
Grande established as the southern boundary of Texas, in- 
stead of the Nueces, but Mexico was obliged to give up New 
Mexico and California for the sum of $15,000,000. Debts of 
$3,000,000 which she owed to American citizens were also to 
be discharged by the United States. 

But hardly had the new tract been acquired, before it became 
a bone of contention between the North and the South. The 
North was determined that the Mexico purchase should be 
free soil ; the South was equally determined that it should be 
slave territory. In 1846 David Wilmot of Pennsylvania had 
proposed in Congress that money should be appropriated to 
buy the proposed acquisition from Mexico, only on condition 
that slavery should be excluded from it. This proposition, 
called the Wilmot Proviso, failed to pass through Congress ; 
but it formed the political creed of the new Free-Soil party 



410 THE UNITED STATES * book hi 

whicli came into existence in 1848. The Democrats and Whigs 
were unwilling to oppose the spread of slavery through fear 
of offending their Southern supporters. So a new party was 
formed by those who believed in the Wilmot Proviso, and who 
were convinced that the slave power was threatening the very 
existence of the nation. 

The Free-Soilers nominated ex-President Van Buren and 
Charles Francis Adams of Massachusetts in the presidential 
campaign of 1848 ; and in their platform they declared them- 
selves against allowing slavery in the new territory. The 
Democrats and the Whigs avoided this issue. While the Free- 
Soil vote was not large, it turned the scale in New York ; and 
by causing the vote of that State to be given to the Whigs it 
secured the election of the Whig candidates, Taylor and Fill- 
more. They received 163 votes in the Electoral College, against 
127 that were given for Cass and Butler, the candidates of the 
Democratic party. 

Zachary Taylor was born in Virginia in 1784. He served 
in the War of 1812, and also in the Black Hawk and Seminole 
wars ; and in the war with Mexico he played a conspicuous 
part and won the admiration of the whole country. When 
he was first mentioned as a presidential candidate, he declared 
that he had no taste for politics and forbade the use of his 
name. But after a time he found himself thoroughly pos- 
sessed by presidential ambition. The office which he once 
thought unattractive he now coveted ; and he gladly accepted 
the nomination of the Whigs in 1848. Indeed, he even claimed 
it as a right. But his death, only about a year after he was in- 
augurated, prevented him from showing conspicuously whether 
he had the abilities of a statesman. 

Millard Fillmore, who as Vice-President succeeded him, was 
a native of New York and was born in 1800. Made President 
by accident, he showed no vigorous qualities of mind or char- 
acter during his term of office. 

President Taylor's career was cut short at a very critical 
time. The national affairs were in confusion because Con- 
gress could not decide whether or not to allow slavery in the 
Territories. California was rapidly becoming populated, owing 
to the discovery of gold in its soil in 1849. But its people, 
largely composed of ruffians and adventurers, and greatly need- 



CHAP. V HARRISON TO FILLMORE 411 

ing a government to restrain lawlessness, could get little help 
from the United States. For no stable government could be 
established till it was known whether the Territory was to be 
slave or free. Moreover, the feeling between the North and the 
South was continually becoming more heated. The South was 
offended by the denunciations of the Abolitionists against 
slavery and by the difficulty the slave-owners experienced 
in getting back runaways from the Northern States ; while 
the North objected to the sale of slaves in the District of 
Columbia, resented the aggressive and irritating tone of South- 
ern statesmen, and pronounced their demands extravagant and 
dangerous to the permanence of the Union. Texas added to 
the confusion by claiming a part of New Mexico and threaten- 
ing to take it by armed force. 

Once more the difficulties created by slavery were settled 
by compromise ; and once more Henry Clay was the means of 
bringing about an agreement. He had arranged the Missouri 
Compromise in 1820 and the Compromise Tariff in 1833 ; and 
it was a committee of which he was chairman that framed 
the Omnibus Bill of 1850. By this compromise measure the 
troubles between North and South were for a time quieted, 
though the chief causes for irritation remained untouched. 
The Omnibus Bill embraced five distinct acts : — 

I. That California should be admitted as a free State. 

II. That Texas should receive $10,000,000 and in considera- 
tion of that sum should give up her claims to a portion of New 
Mexico. 

III. That the rest of the Mexican purchase, with the excep- 
tion of California, should be divided into the Territories of 
Utah and New Mexico, and that the question whether they 
should be slave or free should be left unsettled. 

IV. That slaves should still be held in the District of 
Columbia, but not bought or sold. 

V. That the Northern States should be required to surrender 
all fugitive slaves that took refuge in them. 

These compromise measures were cai-ried through Congress 
largely through the support of Daniel Webster. His speech 
in favor of them, delivered on March 7, 1850, created a power- 
ful conciliatory influence. Mr. Webster believed that it was 
needless to exclude slavery from the Territories by law, for 



412 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

their barren soil offered no remuneration to slave labor. He 
held that the North was bound by the Constitution to deliver 
up fugitive slaves, and that it ought not to evade its responsi- 
bility. The agitation created by the Abolitionists he pronounced 
mischievous, and he deprecated all acrimonious controversy 
between the North and the South. Thus powerfully supported, 
the Omnibus Bill proved too strong to be defeated. Its five 
acts were separately considered and passed by Congress, and 
the difficulties that had been disturbing the nation were tem- 
porarily adjusted. iWit the cause of the disturbance had not 
been removed. The excited feelings of the North and the South 
were not quieted by compromise. Loudly and fiercely did the 
people of the free States denounce the Fugitive Slave Law, 
which indeed many pronounced iniquitous and refused to obey. 
■And equally angry and bitter were the criticisms of the South 
upon the conduct of the Abolitionists. To all who understood 
the political situation it was apparent that Mr. Webster's argu- 
ments were specious and did not touch the real points at issue. 
The North and the South were trying to perpetuate two antag- 
onistic types of civilization under the same Constitution ; but 
such an experiment in government was bound to fail. It only 
invited dissension. Compromise could postpone the day of 
conflict, but the day of conflict was sure to come. This Mr. 
Webster failed to recognize in his famous seventh of March 
speech. Ignoring the deepest and gravest moral issues of the 
controversy, he did not rise to the plane of the highest states- 
manship. Ambition blinded his moral vision. But even while 
he was advocating an impossible conciliation, a greater mind 
than his was clearly discerning the signs of the times. Abra- 
ham Lincoln of Illinois had already begun to see that a house 
divided against itself could not stand, and that the country must 
become all slave or all free.^ 

President Taylor died on July 9, 1850. Calhoun, the ardent 
champion of State Rights, passed away in the March preced- 
ing ; and Webster and Clay in 1852. But the death of these 
eminent men did not apparently affect the course of public 
events. They had played great and brilliant parts in the 
nation's history, but individuals were beginning to count as 

1 It was in his debates with Douglas in 1858 that Lincoln clearly and em- 
phatically enunciated this idea. 



CHAP. V HAERISON TO FILLMORE 413 

little in those stirring and tremendous times. The country 
was drifting toward civil war, and no one could stay its course. 
Yet able men appeared to till the places of the departed 
leaders. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts and Stephen 
Douglas of Illinois became conspicuous in the debates of 
Congress ; while the South found sturdy leaders in Alexander 
Stephens of Georgia and Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. 

In 1852, as in 1848, there were three presidential candidates. 
The Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce of New Hamp- 
shire, and William R. King of Alabama, for President and 
Vice-President. The Whigs nominated General Winfield 
Scott, and William A. Graham of North Carolina. The Free- 
Soilers again put candidates in the field, nominating John P. 
Hale of New Hampshire and George W. Julian of Indiana; 
but these candidates received very few votes in the election, 
and, like the Free-Soil nominees in 1848, they had no votes 
whatever in the Electoral College. The contest, therefore, 
was really between the Whigs and the Democrats ; but the Whig 
party was very much weakened by the disaffection of its mem- 
bers. For many Southern Whigs now joined the Democrats, 
because of the growing importance of the slavery question ; 
and many Northern Whigs refused to support their party, 
because it had indorsed the Fugitive Slave Law. Under these 
conditions, the Democrats naturally had things very much 
their own way, their candidates receiving 254 electoral votes 
against 42 that were cast for Scott and Graham. 



CHAPTEE VI 

THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF PIERCE AND BUCHANAN 

The new President was not the man to lead the country 
when a crisis was approaching. A fascinating personality was 
his most notable characteristic, and to it he was largely indebted 
for his successful career. Though a Northern man, he defended 
slavery ; and in his inaugural address he made it plain that the 
South would receive more support than the North from his 
administration. Thus the slave power gathered strength ; the 
division between North and South grew wider ; the final appeal 
to arms became more difiicult to avoid. 

Other matters besides those connected with the slave ques- 
tion did, it is true, assume prominence at this period. Of these 
the most important was that of naturalization. The United 
States claimed that foreigners who became her citizens by pro- 
cess of naturalization were no longer subject to the laws of 
the country of their birth. This claim European nations were 
slow to admit; it was not until 1853 that the question was 
decided. In that year the Austrians attempted to carry off an 
American named Martin Kostza, who was a native of Austria 
and who had been engaged in an insurrection against the Aus- 
trian Government. He was seized in Asia Minor and put on 
board an Austrian frigate. But the commander of an Ameri- 
can man-of-war threatened to fire upon the Austrian vessel 
unless Kostza were given up. Kostza was accordingly sur- 
rendered, and the United States Government, instead of heed- 
ing Austria's protest, justified its officer and rewarded him with 
a medal. 

In the following year the United States gained further re- 
spect among the nations of the world by establishing diplo- 
matic and commercial relations with Japan, This country 
had looked with true Oriental disdain upon other nations 

414 



CHAP. VI PIERCE AND BUCHANAN 415 

and had held aloof from all intercourse with them. But Com- 
modore M. C. Perry, a brother of the Captain Perry who dis- 
tinguished himself at the battle of Lake Erie, succeeded in 
overcoming this aversion to foreigners. He was sent to Japan 
with a naval squadron ; and by his resolution, tact, and diplo- 
matic skill, he persuaded the Japanese to form a treaty with 
the United States. Thus the Republic was steadily gaining in 
power. Her population had been growing rapidly all through 
the century, and had now reached a total of twenty -five millions. 
Railways were being extended in every direction. The great 
streams of the country were being bridged. Factories were 
becoming numerous under the protective system. The volume 
of business was constantly increasing. The Crystal Palace 
Exhibition at New York City, in 1853, gave many evidences 
of the country's astonishing growth. 

But outward prosperity could not conceal the nation's trouble. 
During President Pierce's administration slavery caused more 
disturbance and angry feeling than ever. In 1854 Stephen 
Douglas of Illinois proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which 
violated theJVIissouri Compromise of 1820. But it was claimed 
that the Omnibus Bill set asidfe all earlier agreements, and that 
the settlers of Nebraska and Kansas should be allowed to decide 
whether they would have slavery or not. And this view pre- 
vailed in Congress. The Kansas-Nebraska Bill was passed ; 
new seeds of dissension between North and South were sown. 

Nor were these seeds long in bearing fruit. Nebraska was 
too far to the North to attract Southern settlers ; but Kansas 
immediately became a bloody battle-ground. On the vast 
stretches of this fertile Territory the North and South fought 
their preliminary skirmish, and the North won its earliest vic- 
tory. Northern immigrants hastened into Kansas, rifle in hand. 
Blocked by the people of western Missouri, they found a pas- 
sage through Iowa, and forced their way through all obstacles. 
They carried their families with them. They went to establish 
homes and free institutions, for which they were ready to fight 
and die. Equally active was the South in occupying the cov- 
eted Territory. But the Southern planters did not like to carry 
their slaves into Kansas through fear of ultimately losing them. 
So the Southern immigrants were largely young men who did 
hot take families with them, and whose object was to hold the 



416 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

ground for the slave power against Northern invasion. But 
this they were not able to do. The Northern settlers outnum- 
bered them, and, after many sharp struggles, established a 
government forbidding slavery and demanded admittance into 
the Union. Their petition, however, was rejected by the Senate, 
in which the Democrats were in a majority ; and not till 1861 
was Kansas added to the list of States. 

The struggle for Kansas intensified the feeling between North 
and South and made President Pierce's administration a stormy 
and eventful period. So determined and aggressive did the 
Northern opponents of slavery become, that they formed them- 
selves into a new party. At first they were called "Anti- 
Nebraska men," as opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Bill 
was the cardinal point in their political creed ; later they took 
the name of Republicans. They absorbed the Free-Soil party, 
drew the anti-slavery Whigs and Democrats into their ranks, 
and almost from the beginning appeared formidable. In 1854 
they elected a majority of the House of Representatives ; and 
their leaders in Congress showed conspicuous ability. Sumner 
and Seward in the Senate, and Burlingame and.Giddings in 
the House voiced the Northern anti-slavery sentiment in no 
uncertain tones. 

The excitement that prevailed throughout the country was 
reflected in Congress itself. The members of that bodj'' 
engaged in acrimonious debate, carried knives and pistols, and 
challenged each other not unfrequently. Sometimes scenes of 
violence occurred in the very halls of Congress, and in 1856 
an assault was made upon Charles Sumner in the Senate 
chamber which caused great excitement throughout the 
country. In a heated debate Mr. Sumner spoke in offensive 
terms of Senator Butler of South Carolina. Preston S. Brooks, 
a nephew of Senator Butler, was a representative from the 
same state, and he considered that his uncle's honor needed to 
be vindicated. So, entering the floor of the Senate with a 
cane, he showered repeated blows upon Mr. Sumner's head, 
and injured him so severely that his health was not restored 
for several years. Yet, dastardly as was the outrage, it was 
not seriously rebuked by Southern statesmen, so fierce was 
their resentment toward all the opponents of slavery. 

In the national election of 1856 the Democrats were again 



CHAP. VI PIERCE AND BUCHANAN 417 

successful. Of the 296 votes cast in the Electoral College their 
candidates, James Buchanan and John C. Breckenridge, received 
174. But they were by no means satisfied with their triumph. 
The Republican party developed surprising strength, and 
carried a majority of the Northern States. Its candidates, 
John C. Fremont and William L. Dayton, received 114 elec- 
toral votes, 8 being given to the American or Know-Nothing 
candidates, ex-President Fillmore and Andrew J. Donelson. 
So the South grew more and more uneasy regarding its favorite 
institution. It feared that slavery could not live, if the Repub- 
lican party, pledged to oppose its extension, should carry a 
presidential election. And that contingency did not seem 
very far away. 

James Buchanan was born in Pennsylvania in 1791. A 
lawyer by profession, he showed marked ability very early in 
his career, and before his presidential election he filled various 
political and diplomatic offices. He approved of President 
Jackson's position against the Nullification movement in 
1832 ; but he never resisted the claims of slavery, and, like 
Pierce, he gave the support of his administration to the South 
rather than the North. So throughout his presidency sectional 
feeling grew more intense and dangerous. 

Yet President Buchanan's administration was a period of 
prosperity and growth in spite of the threatening political 
conditions. Three new States were admitted to the Union, 
Minnesota, Oregon, and Kansas. The population continued to 
increase, and by 1860 it had reached the figure of thirty-one 
millions. Ingenious inventions were multiplying the power of 
labor and bringing wealth and comfort to the people. The min- 
eral riches of the country were showing themselves inexhaustible. 
Silver as well as gold was now found to be abundant. Petro- 
leum was discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859, and the deposits 
of coal were found to be far more extensive than was at first 
supposed; 

Thus the nation was rapidly becoming one of the greatest and 
wealthiest in the world. All the more did it need to become 
an undivided nation, that there might be no hindrance to the 
growth of its power and prosperity. The slave question sternly 
demanded settlement. So long as the nation was half slave and 
half free there was sure to be unceasing political warfare between 
2k 



418 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

North aud South. The whole country was disquieted. Industry 
and enterprise did not have free play. The South in particu- 
lar failed to develop its great mineral resources, because, under 
the deadening influences of slavery, it gave all its energies to 
raising cotton. 

But the march of events was rapid during the four years of 
Buchanan's administration. The excitement over slavery con- 
tinued and was fed by new and portentous happenings. In 
1857 the famous Dred Scott Decision was given by the 
Supreme Court of the United States and caused much indignant 
protest among the people of the North. For in the North it 
had been believed that, according to the Constitution, slaves 
were persons held to labor, and were property only by State 
law. But it appeared that this view was a mistaken one. 
For Dred Scott, a Missouri slave, was carried by his master 
into the territory that had been declared free by the Missouri 
Compromise of 1820 ; and he accordingly brought a suit to 
gain his freedom. But the Supreme Court, to which body the 
case was appealed, refused to declare him free. As a slave, he 
could be carried where his master willed, like cattle or any 
other property. Thus the bars were everywhere broken down. 
As the law had been interpreted, there was nothing to prevent 
the people of the South from settling with their slaves in the 
very hotbeds of the Abolitionist movement. Naturally the 
North was alarmed. It did not fear that the free Northern 
States would actually be invaded by slavery ; but it did look 
with concern upon the growing strength of the slave power 
which the Dred Scott decision fostered instead of discouraging. 

The excitement over the Dred Scott decision had hardly 
died away when sectional feeling Avas inflamed anew by an 
event of startling character. On the night of October 10, 
1859, John Brown, an Abolitionist who had won notoriety in 
Kansas, seized the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry 
with a band of armed associates. His plan was to use the 
arms thus acquired for equipping the slaves and inciting them 
to insurrection. But the scheme was a foolhardy one and 
resulted in utter failure. The slaves did not rise. Brown and 
his followers were easily overpowered by the troops sent 
against them ; and on December 2, Brown himself and all of 
Ms party who had not been killed in the fray were hanged by 



PIERCE AND BUCHANAN 419 



the State of Virginia. But the excitement of the South was 
not quieted by this vindication of the law. Though John 
Brown's raid was easily checked, it touched the people of the 
South in their most sensitive spot, the fear of a negro insur- 
rection. So the Southern hatred of the Abolitionists grew 
more bitter than ever; for the slave-owners were naturally 
indignant that the very movement they had always feared 
should have been originated by their own countrymen. Nor 
was the feeling of the Abolitionists any less vehement and 
bitter. They justified John Brown, pronounced him a martyr, 
and prophesied that his death would hasten the doom of 
slavery. 

Sectional feeling being thus excited, the slave question inev- 
itably became the vital one in the election of 1860. The 
Southern Democrats framed their platform and made their 
nominations with a view to defending slavery against the 
attacks of the North. They declared that it was the duty of 
Congress to protect slavery in the Territories in accordance 
with the Dred Scott decision. Their candidates were John C. 
Breckenridge of Kentucky, who was at this time Vice-President, 
and Joseph Lane of Oregon. The Northern Democrats could 
not indorse such a platform without becoming actual champions 
of slavery ; so they made their own independent nominations, 
their candidates being Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois and 
Herschel V. Johnson of Georgia. Unwilling to avoid the 
question of slavery altogether, they would not express them- 
selves decidedly for or against it. Their platform embodied the 
ideas of Douglas, who held that each Territory should be slave 
or free according to the wishes of its inhabitants. This theory 
was sometimes known as squatter sovereignty. But there 
were many conservative, peace-loving people in the North who 
believed that the slave question caused disturbance because 
it was so much talked about, and that if it was ignored it 
would ultimately settle itself. They accordingly refused to 
act with either the Northern or the Southern Democrats, and 
nominated John Bell of Tennessee and Edward Everett of 
Massachusetts on a platform which simply declared for the 
Constitution, the Union, and the enforcement of the laws. 
And lastly there were the nominees of the Republican party, 
Abraham Lincoln of Illinois and Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, 



420 THE UNITED STATES book ii; 

who were pledged to- oppose slavery in the Territories. Thus 
the Republicans committed themselves against slavery, and 
their party was the party of the anti-slavery leaders. Yet the 
Republicans were by no means to be classed with the Abolition- 
ists. They were opposed to the extension of slavery ; they had 
no thought of making war upon the institution itself. Their 
cardinal belief was that the Union should be preserved. 
Slavery they opposed because it threatened the permanence 
of the Union, not because they condemned it on moral 
grounds. 

Intense interest was taken in the election. A victory for 
the Northern Democrats or for the American party would have 
meant the continuance of attempts at compromise and of bitter 
feeling between the North and the South. A victory of the 
Southern Democrats would have filled Northern statesmen with 
alarm and would have caused them wellnigh to despair of 
saving the Union. That the election of the Republican candi- 
dates would actually bring about the disruption of the Union 
was hardly supposed in the North ; but it was eagerly hoped 
for by all the opponents of slavery, as they saw in it the only 
means of checking the growth of the slave power. 

The Republicans triumphed and disruption came. Lincoln 
and Hamlin received 180 votes in the Electoral College ; Breck- 
enridge and Lane 72 ; Bell and Everett 39 ; and Douglas and 
Johnson 12. Almost as soon as the result was known, South 
Carolina summoned a state convention and severed her connec- 
tion with the Union. Six other States soon followed her ex- 
ample, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana 
seceded in January, 1861 ; and Texas in February of the same 
year. Thus the secession movement had become formidable. 
Its leaders were confident, and they proceeded to establish a 
government of their own. The State conventions which had 
passed the acts of secession took upon themselves the authority 
of sending delegates to Montgomery, Alabama, to form a con- 
federation of the seceded States. Early in February the dele- 
gates met, framed a Constitution for the " Confederate States," 
adopted a flag which became known as the " Stars and Bars," 
and chose Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens as President 
and Vice-President. The latter, who was a native of Georgia, 
opposed secession vigorously until 1860 ; but, like many South- 



CHAP. VI PIERCE AND BUCHANAN 421 

erners, he deemed allegiance to his own State stronger than 
that which he owed to the Union. 

The States that had seceded were the sea-coast States. 
Between them and the free North lay seven slave States, Mary- 
land, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, 
and Arkansas, whose attitude was for some time doubtful. The 
people of these border States did not wish to secede, but many 
of them were unwilling to see the States that had seceded 
brought back into the Union by force. It was quite certain, 
therefore, that the seven Confederate States would find their 
numbers increased unless they could be persuaded to cancel 
their ordinances of secession and submit to the United States 
Government. 

But nothing was done to bring about this result. President 
Buchanan ignored the whole matter of secession to the end of 
his term. In Congress there was much loose talk about com- 
promise, but nothing was accomplished. Meanwhile, the whole 
South was busy with preparations for war. For 3'ears, indeed, 
the Southern leaders had been looking for such a crisis as had 
arisen, and now that it had come they were ready to meet it. 
So prompt and vigorous were their measures in the seceded 
States that within their area the authority of the United States 
Government was soon completely destroyed. The soldiers of 
the United States were disarmed and sent away. Forts were 
erected. Munitions of war were accumulated, and troops were 
equipped and drilled. If a struggle was to come, the South had 
reason to begin it with confidence. But the national Govern- 
ment remained utterly inactive. President Buchanan would 
not sanction any measure that looked toward suppressing the 
secession movement.^ 

^ Buchanan's conduct during this critical period is vigorously defended in 
King's " Turning on the Light " (see especially pp. 129 et seq.). For the other 
Bide consult Rhodes's " History of the United States,'"' III. 217-228. 



CHAPTER VII 

Lincoln's administration. — the civil war 

The first decided measure of the new administration was 
to send supplies to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. For 
some time the leaders of secession in South Carolina had been 
preparing to capture this fortress. They had built forts and 
batteries about it which Major Anderson, in command of Fort 
Sumter, was forbidden by the United States Government to 
fire upon, but which drove away a vessel sent to Major Ander- 
son's relief. Hence the garrison of Fort Sumter could get no 
supplies of food, and at the beginning of Lincoln's administra- 
tion it was being rapidly reduced to extremities. But when the 
secession leaders found that Lincoln had despatched a fleet to 
succor the fortress, they opened fire upon the fort, and soon 
forced it to surrender. Thus civil war was begun. The 
secession movement had developed into armed rebellion. 

There was now but one course open to President Lincoln. 
Having sworn to maintain the Constitution, he must suppress 
the rebellion at any cost. Civil war had become inevitable, but 
it was to be waged simply for the preservation of the Union. 
Mr. Lincoln resolutely refused to free the slaves at the begin- 
ning of the war, and thereby greatly disappointed the Aboli- 
tionists, who considered the destruction of slavery the chief 
end of the conflict. He ordered a blockade of the Southern 
ports and called for seventy -five thousand volunteers to suppress 
the rebellion. But these measures brought matters to a crisis 
in the border States. Four of them, Arkansas, North Caro- 
lina, Tennessee, and Virginia, cast their fortunes with the South. 
Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri were saved for the Union, 
partly by the efforts of the Union men in them, partly by the 
action of the United States Government. In West Virginia 
the population was so loyal to the Union that this portion of 

422 



CHAP. VII LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION 423 

Virginia was made by Congress into a separate State. There 
were now, therefore, eleven States in the Southern Confederacy, 
while those that remained in the Union numbered twenty-two. 
The former had a population of about eight millions ; while that 
of the States which had not seceded was nearly three times as 
great. Moreover, the North had a great advantage over the 
South in its wealth and in the variety of its industries. It had 
long been engaged in manufactures, and through these and 
through the richness of its agricultural regions its resources 
were practically inexhaustible ; while the South, producing little 
but cotton and unable to send that abroad on account of the 
blockade of its ports, became gradually impoverished. 

None the less the South made a long and gallant resistance 
against superior force, and there were times when the national 
cause looked dark and discouraging. It soon became evident 
that the South could not be subdued unless slavery were de- 
stroyed, and Mr. Lincoln issued an emancipation proclamation 
on January 1, 1863, in which the slaves were declared to be 
their own masters. But even after this decided step was taken, 
the Union armies suffered many reverses ; and it was not until 
April 26, 1865, that the resistance of the South was completely 
overcome. Unhappily, Mr. Lincoln did not live to see this final 
triumph which his own wisdom and lofty courage had so 
largely brought about. Reelected in 1864, he had entered upon 
his second term of office under bright auspices, and had shared 
the rejoicing of the North over Lee's surrender, which occurred 
on April 9, only about a month after his famous Second Inau- 
gural Address was delivered. But on April 14 he was shot by 
an assassin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, and died after 
lingering a few hours in unconsciousness. Profound gloom fell 
upon the nation when this calamity was known ; for, though 
doubted and distrusted when the war began. President Lincoln 
had gradually won the enthusiastic regard of his countrymen. 
His great patience, his homely wisdom, his kindness of heart, 
and his unswerving justice had made a profound impression 
upon the people. His quaint sayings were everywhere repeated ; 
his name was everywhere mentioned with deep and reverent 
affection. But his character was not merely one to be admired ; 
it was a distinctive product of American life and American 
institutions. The breadth, the freedom, the humanity and the 



424 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

moral dignity of the new democracy had moulded this remark- 
able man and made him one of the most perfect products of mod- 
ern civilization. In his nature gentleness and strength were so 
admirably blended as to render him an ideal leader for a free 
people. He asked no blind allegiance. He believed in the 
people, and he was always ready to wait till they could follow 
him. The result was that they gave him their hearts and their 
devotion in a manner hardly paralleled in history. 

The rebellion Avas crushed, but this vast result had not been 
accomplished without heavy cost. Hundreds of thousands 
of lives had been sacrificed and billions of dollars had been 
expended to secure the harmony of the Union. Moreover, in 
order to meet extraordinary expenditures, the national Con- 
gress had resorted to unwise financial legislation, which could 
not readily be undone and which has not yet ceased to plague 
the country. In 1857 the tariff had been put upon a scientific 
basis by a most excellent bill ; ^ but, for purposes of revenue 
rather than of protection, this admirable adjustment of the 
tariff question was set aside, and a high scale of duties was 
adopted in the early years of the war. And, once adopted, it 
was permanently retained, contrary to all expectations, for the 
manufacturers, having tasted the benefits of extreme protec- 
tion, were loath to give them up. Hence the Kepublican party 
became committed to a high tariff policy, and the principle of 
government paternalism was immensely strengthened and 
encouraged. And even more far-reaching in its political 
effects was the legislation now passed in regard to the cur- 
rency. Up to this time Congress had controlled the coinage, 
as authorized by the Constitution, without exciting serious 
political comment. In 1792 it enacted that the coinage ratio 
between gold and silver should be 15 to 1 ; and it provided 
that eagles, half eagles, and quarter eagles should be coined 
from gold, and dollars, half dollars, quarter dollars, dimes, and 
half dimes should be coined from silver. But as this ratio 
caused the gold to be driven out by the silver, in accordance 
with Gresham's Law, the ratio was made 16 to 1 in 1834, and 
now it was the silver that was driven out. Indeed, a law was 
passed in 1853 to increase slightly the amount of silver used 
in the fractional coins, for it was found difficult to keep them 

1 Taussig's " Tariff History of the United States." 



CHAP, vii LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION 425 

in circulation.^ But thus far Congress had avoided issuing 
paper money, and in regulating the coinage it had obeyed the 
requirements of sound finance, and not the dictates of party. 
But, pressed by the exigencies of the Civil War, Congress 
unfortunately decided to make the Government's credit serve 
in the place of money, and authorized the issue of notes with a 
face value of $500,000,000. These notes were mere promises 
to pay on demand, but they were legal tender and were redeem- 
able in coin. The result was that they soon drove both gold 
and silver out of circulation, and brought gold to so high a 
premium that a single dollar of that metal was worth more than 
two dollars in paper money. Thus the nation began to experi- 
ence the necessary consequences of issuing fiat money. It was 
burdened with a depreciated currency; but, far worse than 
that, it had created in the minds of the people a craving for 
a debased circulating medium. For from that time to the 
present day the poorer classes have not ceased to think that 
the Government could relieve their poverty by making dollars 
enough for all. Thus it becomes apparent that the Civil War 
exerted a profound and immeasurable influence upon the nation's 
political development. For even while it was accomplishing its 
momentous task of abolishing slavery and making the Union 
whole, it was leading Congress into actions which became the 
ultimate source of ever increasing dissensions and party war- 
fares. 

But in that it did make the Union whole, the war was worth 
all that it cost. Ever since 1789 it had been an unsolved ques- 
tion whether the States could withdraw from the compact they 
had voluntarily made. But that question was now settled, and 
the permanency of the Union was secured. The principle of 
federation had won a glorious triumph. It had proved capable 
of making a strong and enduring nation. The Republic now 
stood before the world united, free, and great. 

1 For a discussion of these various coinage measures consult Laughlin's 
"History of Bimetallism in the United States," or Bolle's " Financial History 
of the United States from 1789 to 1860," Book HI. Ch. XL 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. — RECON- 
STRUCTION 

The assassination of President Lincoln was part of a plot 
to kill all the highest officials in Washington, and leave the 
country without a government. Fortunately, the infamous 
scheme was frustrated. Andrew Johnson, the Vice-President, 
was at once sworn into the presidential office, and the Govern- 
ment did not suffer even a temporary collapse. 

But the course of affairs was troublous during the adminis- 
tration of President Johnson. He was a Soutliern man, who 
had settled in Tennessee at an early age and had there obtained 
political preferment. Becoming President through Lincoln's 
death, he showed himself eager to punish the leaders of the 
Rebellion; but it soon became apparent that his condemna- 
tion of treason was due rather to class hatred than to exalted 
patriotism. He was a self-willed and passionate man, with- 
out breadth and magnanimity ; and, being a poor white him- 
self, he disliked the Southern leaders because they were his 
social superiors. Accordingly, he was anxious to see them 
brought to justice, while he had no feeling against the rank 
and file of the secession movement. But the nation did not 
indorse these sentiments. There was a feeling throughout 
the North that quite enough blood had been shed during the 
war, and that the nation's victory should not be sullied by 
unnecessary and vindictive executions. Jefferson Davis was 
indeed arrested, and for two years was imprisoned in Fortress 
Monroe ; but he was set free in 1868, and no other leaders of 
the rebellion were even molested. 

Thus Johnson put himself out of sympathy Avith Northern 
feeling; and, as time passed, he and the Republican majority 
in Congress became thoroughly antagonistic. The great prob- 

426 



CHAP, viii JOHNSON AND GRANT 427 

lem of Reconstruction was before the country. The States 
that had seceded were to be governed and were to receive 
back their full political rights as soon as possible. But in 
accomplishing these ends, the President and Congress dis- 
agreed. The President's plan was that the whites in each 
Southern State should elect delegates to a convention, and 
that the convention should repeal the ordinance of secession 
passed just before the war, agree not to pay any debt incurred 
by supporting the Confederacy, and ratify the Thirteenth 
Amendment, which declared slavery abolished, and which 
Congress had voted to bring before the country. This plan 
was actually carried out. The seceded States conformed to 
these requirements of President Johnson, organized govern- 
ments, and elected members of Congress who would, they 
supposed, be admitted to the national Senate and House of 
Representatives. 

But Congress declined to admit them. In both of its 
branches the Republicans were in a two thirds majority and 
they could act in entire disregard of the President's wishes ; 
for they could pass any measure they pleased over his veto. 
And this power they proceeded to exercise. They did not at all 
approve of President Johnson's reconstruction scheme. It 
was too liberal for them, so they framed one to suit them- 
selves. They were determined that the leaders of the Con- 
federacy should not vote and that the negroes should. Por, 
now that slavery was abolished, the Republicans held that 
the negro was a citizen and was entitled to the rights of one. 
Accordingly, Congress passed its own reconstruction acts 
over the veto of the President in March, 1867. By these acts 
Southern Senators and Representatives were to be admitted 
to Congress only if negroes were allowed to vote, and the 
Fourteenth Amendment, which deprived the Confederate 
leaders of the right to vote and to hold office, was ratified. 
Moreover, military governors were to be appointed by the 
President in all the seceded States, and United States troops 
were to be kept in the South to sustain their authority. 

These conditions were hard. Toward the end of the war, 
President Lincoln had attempted to bring several States back 
into the Union, and had wished to restore to them at the out- 
set their full political rights and privileges. His plan of 



428 THE UNITED STATES book m 

reconstruction was not indeed materially different from that 
of President Johnson. But even he had come into collision 
with Congress in carrying out this scheme.^ The Republicans 
in Congress were suspicious of the men who had just been in 
arms against the Union. They feared that the rights of the 
newly enfranchised negro would not be respected ; and they 
considered it more important to secure these rights than they 
did to conciliate the South and destroy that bitter sectional 
feeling which slavery had engendered and the war had by no 
means destroyed. Hence they adopted a policy which resulted 
in years of disturbance and of bitter recrimination between 
North and South. 

But there was nothing for these Southern States to do but 
accept the conditions imposed by the Republican Congress. 
So all but four of them ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, 
submitted to military rule, and saw the negroes vote and hold 
office, while their own leaders were obliged to keep out of the 
political arena until they were pardoned by Congress. But 
they did not quietly acquiesce in bayonet rule. They formed 
organizations which terrorized the negroes and did wild and 
bloody work among them for many years. Of these organiza- 
tions the most notorious was the Ku-Klux-Klan. 

President Johnson was not behind the Confederate leaders 
in his dislike of the reconstruction acts of Congress. He 
carried out their provisions, but he did so under protest ; and 
his feeling of resentment toward Congress grew increasingly 
bitter. Again and again he vetoed its reconstruction bills, 
but invariably they were passed over his veto. Finally, in 
March, 1867, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, which 
Johnson held to be unconstitutional. Therefore, after vetoing 
it in vain, he determined to disobey it. It required the Presi- 
dent to obtain the consent of the Senate before removing 
officials of the highest class. Hence, by removing Stanton, 
the Secretary of War, Johnson brought on an open struggle 
between himself and Congress. For the Senate refused to 
sanction the removal, and, when Johnson persisted in forcing 
Stanton out of office, he was impeached by the House of 
Representatives. 

1 An interesting account of this episode may be found in Blaine's " Twenty 
Years of Congress," 11.34-50. 



CHAP. VIII JOHNSON AND GRANT 429 

Intense interest was awakened throughout the country by 
this action of Congress. No President had ever been impeached 
before ; and the trial of the chief magistrate of a great nation 
was a spectacle of the most solemn character. In Europe it 
was wondered whether our national institutions could stand 
such a strain. Yet, great as was the public excitement over 
the trial, it was from beginning to end a most quiet and orderly 
proceeding. In accordance with provisions of the Constitution, 
the charges against President Johnson were made by the House 
and judged by the Senate. The most able and eloquent mem- 
bers of the House of Representatives presented the case against 
the President, while he was defended by some of the most 
skilful lawyers in the country. When the vote was finally 
taken, thirty-five Senators were in favor of conviction and nine- 
teen in favor of acquittal. The President was therefore vindi- 
cated, a two thirds vote being necessary to prove him guilty. 
The result was a great disappointment to the majority of the 
Republicans, as they firmly believed that the President had 
violated the Constitution. But the soberest and sanest minds 
in the nation approved of the verdict. In opposing Congress 
President Johnson had acted strictly within his legal rights. 
Even in removing Secretary Stanton he had only forced a deci- 
sion on the constitutionality of the Tenure of Office Act. After 
his refusal to obey this law, it was left for the Supreme Court 
to decide whether or not the act was legal. Had it been 
declared legal, Johnson would doubtless have obeyed it. But 
during his administration the Republican majority in Congress 
grew extremely arrogant through the exercise of power, and 
was unwilling to brook opposition. Finding it could override 
the President's vetoes, it concluded it could dictate to him on 
its own terms. The result of the impeachment trial convinced 
it that the President had some rights of his own. And eventu- 
ally the country learned to believe that the verdict of acquittal 
was not merely just, but was greatly needed to hold the legisla- 
tive branch of the Government in check and keep it from 
infringing upon the privileges of the executive. 

Although the problem of reconstruction had absorbed the 
country during Johnson's administration, it was by no means 
the only important matter that came up during that period. 
The French troops were withdrawn from Mexico at the urgent 



430 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

request of the United States, and Maximilian was left to his 
unhappy fate. A submarine telegraph was successfully carried 
from Ireland to Newfoundland in 1866. The territory of the 
United States was increased by the purchase of Alaska from 
Russia in 1867, the price paid being $7,200,000. Nebraska 
was admitted to the Union in the same year. The national 
debt of nearly $3,000,000,000 was diminished and commercial 
prosperity greatly promoted, though gold still remained at a 
premium. For not yet had the inflation of the currency during 
the war ceased to disturb values. Nor did the greenbacks cease 
to cause financial trouble, even after specie payments were 
resumed ; for they gave their holders the right to draw gold 
out of the treasury, and thus forced the Government to keep 
on hand a quantity of gold large enough to meet all demands. 
In other words, the Government had assumed the functions of 
a bank, and would be in danger of bankruptcy if at any time 
the gold reserve in the treasury should show signs of becoming 
exhausted. And that this danger was not an imaginary one 
the country was soon to learn by painful experience. 

Reconstruction was the important issue in the presidential 
election of 1868. The Republicans were determined to uphold 
the policy adopted by Congress, and to that end they nomi- 
nated General Grant and Schuyler Colfax of Indiana. As the 
North was still overwhelmingly Republican, and as the mili- 
tary rule in the South made it possible for the negroes to vote, 
the Republicans gained an easy victory. The Democrats nomi- 
nated Horatio Seymour of New York and Frank P. Blair of 
Missouri ; but in the Electoral College these candidates received 
only 80 votes out of a total of 294. 

Accordingly the work of reconstruction was continued. In 
1870 Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia were readmitted 
to the Union, and the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified by 
three fourths of the States and became a part of the Constitution. 
It declared that no person should be prevented from voting 
because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and thus 
protected the negro in the exercise of his political rights. But 
the whites were biding their time. They knew that bayonet 
rule could not be maintained in the South for many years, for 
public sentiment would not long justify this survival of the 
war. Meanwhile they cowed and intimidated the negroes, and 



CHAP. VIII JOHNSON AND GRANT 431 

when they were accused of violence and brntality, they charged 
the reconstruction governments with fraud and corruption. 
Nor were their charges without foundation. Altogether, the 
condition of the South was far from happy. It was impover- 
ished by the war, it needed capital to develop its resources, 
it was restless and discontented under the Republican recon- 
struction policy. The reconstructed governments felt their 
inefficiency and powerlessness, and appealed to President Grant 
for assistance. To this appeal Grant always responded. He 
sent troops wherever they were needed, and showed that United 
States authority was behind the unpopular State governments. 
But it was beginning to be plain that the South must in the 
end be allowed to manage its own affairs. Bayonet rule was 
an anomaly in a free republic. 

It was during this administration (May 8, 1871) that the im- 
portant Treaty of Washington was arranged between Great 
Britain and the United States. By its provisions the Alabama 
Claims (p. 303) and the San Juan boundary dispute were sub- 
mitted to arbitration, and the question of the Canadian Fisheries 
was referred to a special commission. The decision regarding 
San Juan was given in 1872, and this small island, which lies 
near Vancouver's Island and which was claimed both by Great 
Britain and the United States, was awarded to the latter power 
by the Emperor of Germany ; but the Fisheries question was 
settled by an international commission in 1877, greatly to the 
advantage of Great Britain.^ 

Grant's administration was on the whole a period of great 
national prosperity. The mineral and agricultural resources 
were developed. New railroads were built. Manufacturing 
interests flourished. So enormously did the wealth of the 
country increase that it was possible to pay off the national 
debt very rapidly without making the burden of taxation 

1 The diflSculties between Canada and the United States over the Fisheries 
question are briefly stated on p. .341. A general survey of the subject may be 
found in Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia for 1887, p. 2S0 et seq., and a fuller 
treatment in the Fortnightly Revieiv, 53:7-11; the American Laio Review, 
21 : 369 (applying to the question the principles of international law) ; and the 
Nation, 44:443. Of special importance are the documents bearing upon 
this question in the "Foreign Relations of the United States" for 1878, par- 
ticularly the letter from Mr. Evarts to Mr. John Welsh on p. 290, and Lord 
Salisbury's reply to the same on p. 316. 



432 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

heavy. And the population of the country increased steadily, 
till in 1870 it had reached the figure of 38,558,371. 

And yet this prosperity was mainly material and external, and 
was therefore deceptive in its character. So absorbed had the 
•nation been by the great problem of reconstruction that it had 
been blind to the manifold dangers that were beginning to 
threaten its political life. And that these dangers were not at 
once discerned was only natural. The long excitement of the 
struggle with slavery, followed by the fierce agonies of civil 
war, had severely taxed the national energy and had inclined 
the popular mind rather to a justifiable pride in what had been 
accomplished than to an anticipation of coming evils. Hence 
the average citizen failed to see that he was face to face with 
new and difficult problems, and that in a great democracy, 
quite as much as under a despotism, liberty is only secured by 
ceaseless vigilance. The demoralization of the civil service, 
the vicious use of money in political campaigns, the general 
disappearance of statesmen from public life, the growing 
indifference of Congressmen to all things but party success, and 
their incompetence to deal with grave economic and social 
problems, escaped general notice. Yet there were many clear- 
sighted men who were far from satisfied with the condition of 
the country. Respecting Grant as a general and a citizen, 
they did not believe him a statesman. Under his management 
of affairs they saw corruption in office overlooked, and party 
intolerance and narrowness encouraged. Moreover, they thor- 
oughly disapproved of maintaining the reconstruction govern- 
ments by military force. This discontent showed itself in the 
presidential campaign of 1872. A number of liberal Republi- 
cans, prominent among whom was Carl Schurz of Missouri, de- 
termined to make an independent nomination. They selected 
Horace Greeley of New York and B. Gratz Brown of Missouri as 
their candidates, and these nominations were approved by the 
Democratic National Convention. But the choice was not a 
fortunate one. Horace Greeley was a man of the purest inten- 
tions, but he was considered erratic and unpractical, and he 
did not command the confidence of the nation. His candidacy 
therefore became little better than a farce. The Republicans 
nominated President Grant and Henry Wilson of Massachu- 
setts, and easily swept the country. Of the 366 electoral votes 



CHAP. VIII JOHNSON AND GRANT 433 

cast their candidate received all but 80. So the Independent 
movement suffered a defeat that disguised its real strength 
and meaning. For many Republicans were growing more and 
more out of sympathy with their party. They disliked its 
high tariff policy. They resisted its claim that the Democrats 
could not safely be trusted with the management of national 
affairs. They believed, furthermore, that the unlimited con- 
tinuance of one party in power was undemocratic and unwise. 

The course of events in Grant's second administration only 
increased their dissatisfaction. Political scandals were numer- 
ous and involved many government officials. The Indians 
were cheated and made rebellious by the Indian agents. In 
the West a whiskey ring of distillers and revenue officers was 
found to be systematically swindling the Government. The 
Credit Mobilier, an organization founded to push through the 
Pacific Railroad, secured the votes of Congressmen by pres- 
ents of stock. Even a member of the Cabinet was suspected 
of taking bribes, and only escaped impeachment by resigning. 
The political atmosphere at Washington was unwholesome, 
and some of Grant's own friends were implicated in dishonest 
practices. That the President himself was thoroughly upright 
and honorable was never for a moment doubted. His char- 
acter was one of noble simplicity and directness. He was 
indeed so free from guile that he could not suspect it in others. 
Hence he persisted in believing his associates honest and in 
protecting them, even when their guilt was clearly shown. 
Consequently, through his very magnanimity, his administra- 
tion was in bad odor before its close. 

Nor did the national prosperity continue without cheek dur- 
ing Grant's second term. Railroads were built faster than the 
country needed them, and the capital thus invested brought 
no returns. Property accordingly depreciated. Money became 
scarce. In 1873 a financial panic occurred and made business 
stagnant for several years. 

Hence the Republicans could not engage in the national 
election of 1876 with absolute confidence. They could not 
point to a clean administration of affairs. They could not 
rely upon a solid support in either the North ^ or the South. 
For in the North they had lost many of their supporters ; and 
in the South the whites were gaining control of the State 
2f 



434 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

governments and were intimidating the negroes. In only 
three States, South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, were the 
reconstruction governments still maintained. In all the other 
Southern States the people had overthrown them at the polls, 
elected their own governors, and assumed entire control of 
their own affairs. And this control meant that the negroes 
would no longer be allowed to vote. The whites were deter- 
mined, by fair means or foul, to be the dominant race in the 
South. So they kept the negroes from the polls and made a 
Republican majority in the South impossible for many years. 
For throughout the South the whites continued to support the 
Democratic party, as they had done before the war. 

As a result of this state of affairs the election was bitterly 
contested. The Republicans nominated Rutherford B. Hayes 
of Ohio and William A. Wheefer of New York. Their most 
brilliant leader was James G. Blaine of Maine; but, though 
he had an enthusiastic following in the National Republican 
Convention, many viewed him with distrust, and he could not 
command a majority of the delegates. The Democrats put 
forward their most eminent statesman, Samuel J. Tilden of 
New York, a man of great ability and of wide and successful 
experience in public affairs. As Governor of New York he 
had carried out reforms with a vigorous hand. The Demo- 
cratic candidate for Vice-President was Thomas A. Hendricks 
of Indiana. Nominations were also made by the Greenback, 
or National party ; and, though its candidates obtained no 
electoral votes, the independent stand made by the party was 
significant. It pointed to the fact that many voters were dis- 
posed to make finance the leading political issue. As time 
passed this tendency increased. The discontented classes grew 
more numerous, and they demanded that the Government should 
remedy their grievances by making money more abundant. The 
Greenback party came to an end, but the Free Silver party took 
its place, and finally, in the last decade of the century, free 
silver was made the dominant issue in a presidential campaign. 

The country was prepared for a close contest ; hardly for the 
condition of affairs that followed the election. For when the 
returns were made from the various States, it was found that 
each party claimed the victory. This was owing to the fact 
that in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina the result was 



CHAP. VIII JOHNSON AND GRANT 435 

in doubt. These were the States still controlled by reconstruc- 
tion governments ; and these governments insisted that the 
returning boards, which announced the result of an election, 
should have the right to throw out all votes which they con- 
sidered improperly cast. The excuse for this action was that 
there was much fraud at the polls, because the whites took 
possession of them in certain counties, and either rejected the 
negro vote, or cast enough dishonest votes to put it in a minor- 
ity. And this excuse had abundant justification in fact. Both 
by intimidation and by fraud the whites in the South prevented 
the negro vote from outnumbering their own. But it was a 
grave question whether the arbitrary conduct of the return- 
ing boards were not a greater evil than unfairness at the polls. 
For in a close national election the few men who constituted 
the returning board in a doubtful State had it in their power 
to decide the result of the contest. Thus they were under a 
powerful temptation to forget justice in the interests of party. 

The returning boards of South Carolina, Florida, and 
Louisiana gave the vote of their States to the Eepublican 
electors. But the Democrats claimed that they had carried 
each of these States and that the action of the returning 
boards was illegal. Thus a dispute arose which it was 
extremely difficult to settle. For no one had the right to 
decide whether the Eepublican or the Democratic electors had 
been chosen in the doubtful States. But trouble was avoided 
by the appointment of a special Electoral Commission. Both 
Houses of Congress agreed that a board of fifteen members 
should be chosen to decide all disputed questions that had 
arisen in connection with the election. Five members were to 
be chosen by the Senate ; five by the House ; amd five from 
the Supreme Bench of the United States. The decisions of 
the Board were to be final, unless both Houses should agree to 
set them aside ; and as the Senate was Eepublican while the 
House was Democratic, such an agreement was practically 
impossible. 

The Senate chose three Eepublicans and two Democrats to 
sit on the Board ; the House chose three Democrats and two 
Eepublicans. The Justices were to be appointed by seniority ; 
and it was expected that two of them would be Eepublicans, 
two Democrats, and one, David Davis of Illinois, an Inde- 



436 THE UNITED STATES book in 

pendent. But just at this juncture Judge Davis was chosen 
United States Senator by the legislature of Illinois, and the 
Justice who by right of seniority now served in his place on 
the Board was not an Independent, but a Republican. So the 
Republicans now had a majority of one in the Electoral 
Commission. 

Small as this majority was, it was sufficient to give the 
election to Hayes. For the members of the Commission voted 
for their own party on nearly every question that came before 
them. South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana were counted as 
Republican States, and Hayes thus received 185 votes in the 
Electoral College to Tilden's 184. 

The result was a bitter disappointment to the Democrats. 
They had originally been more heartily in favor of the Elec- 
toral Commission than the Republicans ; for they had fully 
expected Judge Davis to be one of its members, and they had 
felt sure that he would consider the action of the returning 
boards illegal. In that event the doubtful States would 
have been pronounced Democratic, and Tilden, not Hayes, 
would have received 185 electoral votes. But the Democrats 
quietly accepted the verdict of the Commission. Hayes was 
inaugurated without opposition, though some never ceased to 
maintain that he was not lawfully elected. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR 

Rutherford B. Hayes was born in Ohio in 1822. A 
lawyer by profession, he abandoned his practice to serve in the 
Union army, and rose to the rank of brevet major general by 
his efficiency and gallantry. At the close of the war he was 
elected to the National House of Representatives. In 1867 he 
was chosen Governor of his own State, was reelected in 1869, 
and was again chosen in 1875. A man of rare purity of purpose, 
he gave the country an excellent administration. He selected 
a Cabinet of very able men ; his foreign appointments were 
unusually good. All the branches of government were effi- 
ciently managed, though the civil service suffered from the 
vicious system of giving the victor the spoils. So great were 
the evils of this system, which Jackson had inaugurated, that 
Civil Service Reform now became an importaiit national 
question. Already was it becoming apparent that the habit of 
awarding office in return for party service was corrupting the 
morals of the nation. But it was a habit not easily mended, 
for it was highly approved by the politicians of both parties. 
Only by long years of agitation was the sentiment of the 
country so aroused against this abuse that Congress was 
obliged to remedy it. 

The Treasury Department was conducted with conspicuous 
ability under President Hayes by Secretary Sherman, This 
skilful financier refunded the national debt at a much lower 
rate of interest than had previously been paid ; and in 1879 
he brought about the resumption of specie payments. Gold 
was no longer at a premium. The national finances now 
seemed to be in a thoroughly sound condition. The yearly 
income exceeded the expenditure by as much as $100,000,000, 
and this surplus was used in paying off the national debt. 

437 



438 THE UNITED STATES book in 

About the same time that specie payments were resumed the 
financial panic which had begun in 1873 ceased to be felt. 
Money became plentiful ; commercial enterprises flourished. 
American wheat was extensively demanded in Europe, and it 
commanded a high price ; so the farmers of the country were 
prosperous. Moreover, new inventions enormously increased 
the capital of the country. In particular, electricity began to 
be applied to the arts and conveniences of life. The telephone 
made business operations more easy and simple. Electric light- 
ing and electric motors were soon to come into general use. 

But with the rapid growth of wealth new and troublesome 
questions arose. The wage-earning class grew dissatisfied as 
it saw large fortunes acquired by a few, while many had only 
a bare subsistence. Not that wages were low in the United 
States. On the contrary, the laboring class was able to live 
in comfort. If there was occasional distress when times were 
hard, it was not long continued or widespread. Many, it is 
true, suffered from the keenness of business competition. 
Some industries could only be carried on at a profit by allow- 
ing the most meagre wages to employees. But on the whole 
the condition of the workingman in the United States was a 
prosperous one. 

This, however, the workingman himself was not inclined to 
admit. Not his comparative comfort, but his comparative 
poverty, impressed him. He saw many who were poorer than 
himself, but he also saw many who were very much richer 
than himself. Hence he was always inclined to resist a reduc- 
tion of wages, and the strike was his favorite means of defend- 
ing himself against what he considered the tyrannical exactions 
of wealthy corporations. In 1877 there was a very widespread 
strike of the railroad employees in the West, as the result of 
an attempt to reduce their wages. As the strikers were 
unwilling that other men should take their vacant places, they 
resorted to violence, and were only put down by the soldiery. 
Riots occurred in St. Louis, Chicago, and other cities, and 
property worth millions of dollars was destroyed. It was 
some two weeks after the first outbreak before order was 
restored. This riotous movement was not merely serious in 
itself; it was significant of the feeling of the workingmen. 
It gave evidence of a growing revolt against the power of 



CHAP. IX HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR 439 

capital. Nor was this revolt a blind and unreasoning one. 
Only two years after the great strike there appeared a remark- 
able book entitled "Progress and Poverty," which was a 
forcible and impassioned argument against one form of prop- 
erty holding. The author, Henry George, was himself a work- 
ingman. Impressed by the sufferings of his own class, he had 
made a careful study of the causes of poverty, and had con- 
cluded they were all to be traced to the individual ownership 
of land. So to his mind progress was synonymous with land 
communism. Naturally, his theories did not find favor with 
property holders, nor have they been accepted by the most 
eminent students of political economy. Yet they have made 
many converts, not only among workingmen, but among 
thoughtful and highly educated people. The " Single Tax " 
movement, as Mr. George's would-be reform is designated, has 
grown into a well-organized effort to revolutionize society. 
Its success seems remote and improbable, but its champions 
lose none of their zeal and earnestness in the face of discour- 
agement. 

Another movement that began during Hayes's administration 
proved ultimately to spring from the same roots as the single 
tax idea, for it was at this time that the silver question 
attracted general attention. In 1873 Congress had once more 
given its attention to the coinage question, and had voted to 
coin no more silver dollars. At first the action excited little 
comment, for it was not taken without good reason. The 
yearly output of the silver mines was increasing ; silver was 
becoming less valuable than it had been; the dollar coined 
from it was no longer worth a dollar in gold. So Congress 
decided to retire the silver dollar from circulation, and to 
make debts payable only in gold. Other nations had taken 
this stand. Unless the United States followed their example, 
these nations would be likely to send their silver to America, 
where a demand for it still existed. 

But it is hard for the general public to understand the laws 
of finance. To the untrained mind it appeared that the 
demonetization of silver was an injustice to the poor and a 
benefit to the rich. In reality it helped the poor much more 
than it did the rich; for if silver crowded out gold, and a 
dollar worth only ninety cents became the unit of value, the 



440 THE UNITED STATES book in 

workingmen, as having the narrowest incomes, would feel the 
depreciation most keenly. But this was not understood by 
the people. It was believed that the law of 1873 was framed 
in the interest of the bondholders, who by means of it were 
enabled to exact payment 'in gold. Hence there arose a gen- 
eral demand that silver should once more be put in circulation. 
Congress bowed to the demand; and thus the people, with 
their ignorance of financial laws, began to assume control over 
financial legislation. That this is one of the inevitable results 
of democracy must be admitted ; but it is a result that brings 
with it long periods of stagnation in business and frequent 
menace to the material prosperity of the country. Accord- 
ingly, in 1878, it was voted in Congress by an overwhelming 
majority that the silver dollar should be coined again, and 
should be legal tender, the men of both parties uniting to 
bring about this result. The Secretary of the Treasury was 
instructed to coin not less than two million dollars a month, 
and gradually vast stores of this bulky coin were accumulated 
in the Government's vaults. Nevertheless the price of silver 
fell steadily, so great was the quantity produced, until the 
silver dollar came to be worth hardly more than half its face 
value and threatened to drive gold out of circulation. 

Yet in face of these facts the people believed in it still. 
Even though they disliked to carry it about in their pockets, 
they regarded it with affection as the poor man's dollar. To 
them it represented cheap and abundant money. The attempt 
to drive it out of circulation they regarded as a nefarious 
scheme of the wealthy classes, whose interests were identical 
with those of gold, while silver was the friend of the working- 
man. In short, the poorer classes demanded the silver dollar 
in the same spirit that they demanded a more equal distribu- 
tion of wealth, government ownership of land, and legislation 
against capital and rich corporations. 

All this was not apparent when the agitation in favor of 
silver was first started. Indeed, President Hayes's administra- 
tion was a period of great prosperity, and its true significance 
was not understood. What the country saw was that bayonet 
rule was brought to an end in the South and the reconstruction 
governments were thus allowed to collapse; the public debt 
was rapidly paid off ; specie payments were resumed ; business 



/ 



/ 



CHAP. IX HAYES, GARFIELD, AND AETHUR 441 

confidence was restored; Indian affairs were justly managed 
by Mr. Schurz as Secretary of the Interior ; and foreign gold 
flowed freely into the country, owing to the extensive export 
trade. Even shrewd students and observers were misled by 
the prosperous appearance of the country. Mr. Schurz in a 
public address congratulated his hearers on the smooth and 
favorable course of national affairs, which he contrasted with 
England's difficulties over the Irish question and over the 
impoverishment of the farming class. Nor were there, indeed, 
any movements beneath the surface which should have excited 
serious apprehension even had they been understood. No troubles 
were developing that the nation could not meet and overcome. 
But the troubles were there. They were taking shape all 
through President Hayes's excellent administration of affairs. 
Before long they were to appear formidable and to put the 
strength of the nation to new and searching tests. Hence, to 
the political student the administration of Hayes will always 
be a period of peculiar interest. 

President Hayes was not renominated by his party, as he 
had not made himself popular with the politicians. In the 
National Kepublican Convention in 1880, ex-President Grant 
had a large and devoted following, while Mr. Blaine's friends 
were active and hopeful ; but the choice finally fell upon James 
A. Garfield of Ohio, Chester A. Arthur of New York receiving 
the nomination for the vice-presidency. The Democrats, to 
vindicate their loyalty to the Union and to conciliate Northern 
sentiment, nominated for the presidenc}^ Winfield S. Hancock 
of New York, who had been one of the most brilliant and 
gallant Union generals in the Civil War. The second place on 
the ticket they gave to William H. English of Indiana. But 
this attempt to win Northern votes was not successful. Han- 
cock had no political training or experience, and, to overcome 
this deficiency, he had not Grant's immense popularity with 
the country. His candidacy did not find favor in the North. 
In the Electoral College he received only 155 votes against 214 
that were cast for Garfield. 

James A. Garfield was born in Ohio in 1831. Like Hayes, 
he was a lawyer by profession, and like him he abandoned the 
law to serve first in the Union army and afterward in Congress. 
His war record was creditable, as he attained the rank of major 



442 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

general. In Congress he showed ready power in debate and 
became one of the foremost Republican leaders. He was in 
the House of Representatives from 1863 to 1880 ; but at the 
time of his nomination he was serving in the Senate. His 
ability and his personal integrity made the country look for an 
admirable administration of affairs during his term of office. 

But in the short time that Garfield lived after his inaugu- 
ration he did not make good this expectation. The demand for 
civil service reform was not yet loud or general. Garfield 
gave a very faint-hearted support to this cause, though it had 
been indorsed in the platform in which he was nominated. He 
recognized the opponents of the reform in choosing his Cabinet. 
He awarded office as a return for party service. He showed 
himself an astute politician rather than a great and intrepid 
leader. But his tragic fate made the country forget his weak- 
nesses and extol his virtues. On July 2, 1881, only four 
months after his inauguration, he was shot by a man whom he 
had refused to appoint to office and who thirsted for notoriety 
and vengeance. For nearly three months the injured President 
clung to life, but the wound proved mortal. On the 19th of 
September he died near Long Branch in New Jersey. 

Vice-President Arthur, who succeeded him, had not had a 
creditable public career. A s collector of the port of New York 
he had affiliated with intriguing politicians, and had shown no 
sympathy with reform movements. But the grave responsi- 
bilities he now assumed awoke in him a lofty sense of duty. 
He threw off unworthy associates, conducted himself with rare 
dignity and discretion, and proved an able and upright execu- 
tive. During his term of office the country continued to be 
prosperous. All branches of industry flourished, and there 
were few manifestations of discontent among the poorer classes. 
Under these favorable conditions the resources of the South 
began to be rapidly developed. Northern capital found its 
way into the Southern States. New railroads were constructed 
in them, factories were established, mines were opened. 
Under free labor the South was beginning to build up a 
substantial prosperity. 

Nor was the progress of this period merely material. The 
shocking death of Garfield had turned the attention of the 
country to the corrupt condition of its civil service. Washington 



CHAP. IX HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR 443 

was thronged with office-seekers at every presidential inaugura- 
tion; and it was one of these office-seekers who had assassinated 
the late President. The indignation caused by the act gave 
the friends of civil service reform their opportunity. They 
succeeded in passing through Congress a law which empowered 
the President to appoint commissioners to examine and recom- 
mend candidates for office. Thus merit and not zealous politi- 
cal partisanship was to establish the right to an appointment. 
Unfortunately, however, there remained a large class of gov- 
ernment offices outside the scope of the law; and those officials 
to whom it applied were not to retain their places through good 
behavior, but only for four years. So the victory of civil 
service reform was by no means complete. Still, a victory had 
been gained. 

The tariff question also came up in President Arthur's 
administration. The scale of duties adopted during the Civil 
War had not since been changed ; and with the growth of trade 
it had brought very large retiirns to the national treasury. So 
long as the surplus revenues were used in paying off the na- 
tional debt, this condition of affairs occasioned no difficulties. 
But the time had come Avhen the debt could not be much further 
reduced. For when Secretary Sherman had carried through his 
refunding scheme, he had been obliged to postpone the redemp- 
tion of the Government's bonds for a long term of years in order 
to dispose of them at a lower rate of interest. Consequently, 
there was no immediate use for the government surplus ; and to 
prevent it from accumulating every year it seemed necessary to 
reduce the revenue. The natural way to do this was to lower 
the duties on imports. So a new tariff law was passed by 
Congress in 1883, but it did not accomplish the end desired. 
The duties were only slightly reduced, and the Republicans 
strongly objected to a further reduction. The Democrats, on 
the other hand, were earnestly opposed to a high tariff, as they 
had been during Jackson's administration. So protection be- 
came once more a prominent political question. For a num- 
ber of years it obscured all other interests and divided the two 
great parties. It was the paramount political issue in the 
presidential campaign of 1884. 

But after the nominations were made in that year, the plat- 
forms of the two great parties were wellnigh forgotten in the 



444 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

vigorous and abusive warfare that was waged against the per- 
sonal characters of the two presidential candidates. Mr. Blaine 
was nominated by the Kepublicans, to the delight of his nu- 
merous and enthusiastic admirers. The Democrats put forward 
Grover Cleveland, who had shown integrity and fearlessness 
as mayor of Buffalo, and as Governor of New York. The 
friends of civil service reform had watched his career with 
interest and urged his name for the presidency. As candidates 
for Vice-President the Republicans selected John A. Logan of 
Illinois, and the Democrats Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana. 
But scarcely were the nominations made when the warfare of 
recrimination began. Mr. Blaine was accused of official cor- 
ruption ; while Mr. Cleveland's private character was attacked. 
Each party declared that the nation would be disgraced if the 
candidate of the other party should be elected. But the truth 
of the charges cannot be here considered. They are mentioned 
as showing that political contests in the United States easily 
degenerate into vituperation ; and yet that the good sense of 
the country condemns such methods of warfare. For since 
1884 the personal characters of the presidential candidates 
have not been assailed. The national elections have been con- 
ducted with dignity, moderation, and fairness. One virulent 
and acrimonious campaign sufficed the nation. 

The election was closely contested and was decided by the 
Independent vote. Many Republicans voted for the Demo- 
cratic candidates, because they disliked the high tariff policy 
of their party and because they distrusted Mr. Blaine. So the 
movement which had resulted in the unfortunate nomination of 
Horace Greeley in 1872 now achieved a signal success. It 
placed a reform leader in the White House. For, by carrying 
the State of New York, Mr. Cleveland secured the presidency. 
He received 219 votjss in the Electoral College out of 401. 



CHAPTER X 

THE ADMINISTBATI02Srs OF CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND 
MCKINLEY 

Groveb Cleveland was born in New Jersey in 1837. In 
1855 he settled in Buffalo, New York, and was there admitted 
to the bar in 1859. Elected mayor of the city in 1881 by an 
overwhelming majority, he excited admiration by his fearless 
exercise of the power of veto. This same independence he 
showed as Governor of the State. It was therefore confidently 
expected that as President he would resist the unprincipled 
politicians of his party and would further the cause of civil 
service reform. 

But President Cleveland's position was a peculiarly trying 
one. When he assumed office, the Republicans had been in 
power for nearly twenty -five years. During that time they had 
filled all the public offices with their own partisans, and too 
often these offices had been used in the interests of party. 
The Democrats therefore deemed it grossly unfair that they 
should now be excluded from office by the new civil service 
law, just as they had, after long waiting, succeeded in carrying 
a national election. They demanded that President Cleveland 
should dismiss the Republican office-holders, and give their 
places to the men of his own political creed. This demand the 
President resisted. He announced that he would only remove 
offensive partisans, and for a time he lived up to this principle. 
But gradually he gave way to party pressure. The Republi- 
cans were slowly and quietly dismissed, and only a small 
percentage of them remained in office at the end of the admin- 
istration. Apparently President Cleveland regarded civil service 
reform as secondary to the tariff question. Desiring to keep 
his hold upon his party and to dominate its counsels, he sacri- 
ficed for the time being a cause which the Democratic politi- 
cians did not regard with favor. 

445 



446 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

But in the use of the veto President Cleveland was uncom- 
promising and fearless. He would give his sanction to no legis- 
lation that did not command his hearty approval. Pension 
bills in particular he vetoed with an unsparing hand, and in so 
doing he rendered the country valuable service. For the pen- 
sion system was growing to be an evil. Neither party was 
willing to resist the demand for pensions, through fear of 
offending the veterans who had served in the Union army and 
losing their vote. So the amount granted for pensions was 
increased year by year, and was gradually absorbing the sur- 
plus revenues of the Government. Indeed, the time was 
approaching when income would not meet expenses. 

The discontent of the laboring classes, which had manifested 
itself during Hayes's administration, broke out anew under 
President Cleveland. For the prosperous years that had fol- 
lowed the long financial disturbance of the seventies had by no 
means put an end to the dissatisfaction of the workingmen. 
Encouraged by German Socialists who had settled in this coun- 
try, and by other mischievous leaders, they had cherished their 
resentment toward the wealthy classes through the days of good 
wages and plentiful occupation. Through trade-unions and 
other organizations they encouraged strikes, intimidated cor- 
porations and demanded a new and more equitable distribution 
of wealth ; and so insistent were their demands in the earlier 
years of President Cleveland's administration, that they forced 
the labor question upon the attention of the country. It was 
in recognition of their claims that Congress passed the Contract 
Labor Act in 1885, the object of which was to prevent the pro- 
moters of large enterprises from importing cheap labor from 
Europe. And Chinese immigration, which had been partially 
checked in 1880, was now still further restricted. To the 
laborers of California the presence of the Chinese had long 
been a grievance. For these clever and industrious Mongolians 
gave skilled labor for low wages. Nor was Chinese immigration 
alone objected to in Congress. An attempt was made to stem 
the tide of ignorant and impoverished peasants that was con- 
stantly pouring into the country from Europe. But at this 
time nothing was accomplished in that direction. More suc- 
cessful was the endeavor to bring the railroads under control, 
for the Interstate Commerce Act was passed by Congress in 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 447 

1887. It was aimed against railroad practices which were 
considered unjust, and it forbade those roads which extended 
through more than one State to make unfair distinctions in 
their freight and passenger charges. Thus the old Federalist 
interpretation of the Constitution seemed to gain in favor, and 
in accordance with this interpretation the Government was 
continually assuming new authority to meet new conditions 
and emergencies. But it was not doing this without exciting 
criticism from those who still held to the creed of the old Anti- 
Federalist party. For the thinkers of this school believe that, 
in exercising control over trade, the Government is exceeding 
its just and constitutional rights. They think that trade should 
work out its own laws quite unrestricted, and that Government 
cannot interfere with these laws without causing gross injus- 
tice. The attempt to control them always springs from the 
desire to protect one class of citizens against another, and thus 
leads the legislators of the country into making dangerous dis- 
criminations and into strengthening corrupt political tendencies. 
For if the protective theory is once established, every class has 
a right to claim advantage from it. It cannot be used solely 
to benefit the poor and the victims of competition. If their 
condition is bettered by it, the rich will also demand that it be 
exerted in their behalf. More than this, they will bring the 
tremendous power and influence of capital to bear upon State 
legislatures and upon the national Congress in order to secure 
the passage of such measures as they desire. Subjected to 
such pressure, legislators lose their sense of responsibility. 
They ignore the true interests of their constituents, wrangle 
over ill-advised and iniquitous schemes, and promote the growth 
of the lobby. State legislatures are at times swayed by giant 
monopolies, and again are roused to a fierce warfare on the 
owners of property ; while Congress is distracted by the noisy 
claims of conflicting influences. In particulai', whenever a new 
tariff law is framed, the representatives of the various indus- 
tries gather at Washington, and all demand extravagant duties 
on the products they manufacture or produce from the soil. 
But it is found that even in granting the demands of some 
interests, the interests of others are seriously injured. So great 
perplexity arises. 

Such are the arguments of those who oppose the protective 



448 THE UNITED STATES book in 

theory of government. They are sound and forcible argu- 
ments ; they will always be employed against government 
paternalism ; they will always be needed when centralization 
grows overweeningly arrogant and aggressive. But it is safe 
to say they will not convince the people. In this day and time 
it is impossible to restrict the functions of the Government to 
levying taxes and spending them judiciously, as the early Anti- 
Federalists desired. For a hundred years the very existence 
of the nation has been dependent upon material prosperity. 
The development of the country's resources, the use of labor- 
saving machines, the spread of railways, the multiplication of 
devices for subduing the forces of nature, have all promoted 
the growth of the nation and given it community of thought 
and feeling. Through coal, through the steam-engine, and 
through electrical inventions, the people of the country are 
made independent, and become, as it were, the partners in one 
gigantic enterprise. Without the help of modern science they 
could not have a common political experience and common 
commercial interests. 

Thus legislation has inevitably concerned itself with the 
forces that have contributed to the nation's growth. It has 
extended its jurisdiction over factories, roads, canals, railways, 
patents, and even over trade itself.^ For a long period, indeed, 
its object was to promote commerce, manufactures, industries, 
and invention. By a protective tariff it stimulated domestic 
manufactures. By securing ample rights to proprietors it 
helped the growth of railroads and other highways, and encour- 
aged inventive genius. But, having once taken these branches 
of human enterprise under its fostering care and established 
its right to supervise and control them, legislation proceeded 
to curtail and cripple them when it felt that they were growing 
dangerous. As capital increased enormously and fortunes grew 
to colossal size, the people became afraid of the power of 
money. Trusts began to be extensively formed during Presi- 
dent Cleveland's administration, and caused much adverse 
criticism. It was quite generally believed that they kept 
prices high by preventing competition. Whether trusts pro- 
duce such a result may be questioned. If they check competi- 
tion, they also promote economical methods of putting articles 
1 Atlantic Monthly, 81 : 120. 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 449 

on the market. But the people viewed these gigantic opera- 
tions with alarm, and they also became hostile to great corpo- 
rations which they saw acquiring enormous influence and 
attempting to control legislation. They concluded that capital 
was becoming a foe to democracy, and many were persuaded 
that the accumulation of wealth should be entirely prevented. 
Hence the last two decades of the century have witnessed a 
vigorous and persistent war upon capital. Both Congress and 
State legislatures have passed numerous laws designed to check 
the increase of private and corporate wealth. The State is 
asserting itself against the individvial. State socialism is still 
far away, but it is slowly gaining ground. The poor man is 
jealous of the millionnaire. Unable to contend with so powerful 
an adversary, he invokes the aid of the State. The State lis- 
tens to his demands and voices them in its statutes. So cor- 
porate privileges are restricted, large dividends are forbidden, 
double taxation is allowed, and town and city governments 
are empowered to acquire control of corporate enterprises on 
very low terms. 

It is therefore folly to suppose that the Government will let 
trade alone. Its tendency is to exercise a fuller authority 
over the commercial world. In doing this, it becomes guilty 
of glaring inconsistencies and it makes egregious blunders. 
The wisdom of the Government is the wisdom of the politi- 
cians ; the politicians obey the popular will ; and the popular 
will is a very unenlightened will on questions of taxation, 
finance, and political economy. Or, again, the politicians obey 
their own selfish will, and make laws in the interests of corrupt 
rings and ambitious party demagogues. Hence we see the 
most absurd contradictions in the legislation of the day. Gov- 
ernment smites the rich with its right hand and raises them 
up with its left. It helps the poor to their feet and then fells 
them to the earth. By coining vast stores of silver dollars, it 
enriched the owners of silver mines at the expense of the rest 
of the nation. By refusing to retire the greenbacks, it causes 
a general financial uneasiness, makes capital timid, and de- 
prives labor of the means of support it gets from large business 
enterprises. And by an unscientific tariff it puts a needless 
burden on rich and poor alike. Nor will such absurdities of 
legislation altogether disappear with added and riper experi- 
2a 



450 THE UNITED STATES book in 

ence. The problems of modern statecraft are excessively diffi- 
cult. Democracy cannot solve them. The best that it can 
hope to do is to attain to a more enlightened form of govern- 
ment than has been known under the rule of a privileged few. 
Its mistakes are sometimes very foolish; its basis of activity 
is sound. For it proceeds upon the supposition that all men 
have equal rights. 

As the presidential campaign of 1888 drew near, President 
Cleveland, to the dismay of the Democratic politicians, forced 
his party to advocate a reduction in the tariff. His last mes- 
sage to Congress contained a bold and uncompromising utter- 
ance against high tariff duties ; and, as the Democratic party 
had always been an opponent of protection, it could not now 
ignore the opinions of its leading statesman. It renominated 
Mr. Cleveland, associating with him Allen G. Thurman of 
Ohio, and it indorsed the President's views upon the tariff. 
The Republicans nominated Benjamin Harrison of Indiana 
and Levi P. Morton of New York. The policy of protection 
received the fullest support in their platform. So the tariff 
question was fairly before the country. Measures, not men, 
were discussed in the political campaign that now followed. 
The voters of the nation were now to decide between tariff for 
revenue and tariff for protection. 

They decided in favor of protection, the result of the elec- 
tion hinging, as in 1884, upon the vote of New York. This 
State gave Harrison and Morton a small majority and accom- 
plished the defeat of Cleveland. For the latter would have 
had a majority of seven in the Electoral College if New 
York's thirty-six votes had been cast in his favor. The Pro- 
hibitionists had also made nominations, but their candidates 
received no electoral votes. 

President Harrison, who was born in Ohio in 1833, was a 
grandson of William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of 
the United States. He settled in Indianapolis in 1854, and 
successfully practised law there until 1862. Joining the In- 
diana volunteers with a second lieutenant's commission, he 
was promoted for brave and efficient service and was made 
brevet brigadier general in 1865. He was therefore the fourth 
military general elected President by the Republicans since the 
Civil War. He returned to the profession of law at the close 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND. HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 451 

of the war, but his activity brought him political preferment, 
and in 1881 he was chosen a member of the United States 
Senate. Thus his legal, military, and political career were 
highly honorable. As President he showed an inclination to 
indorse the legislation of his party and not to make an exten- 
sive use of the power of veto. 

The most important matters connected with his administra- 
tion were the following : — 

I. A new silver bill, called the Sherman Act, was passed by 
Congress. It provided that 4,500,000 ounces of silver bullion 
should be purchased by the treasury every month and made 
into dollars. For this coin certificates were to be issued which 
should be legal tender for debts public and private. The act 
was passed in obedience to a strong and growing class which 
advocated the free coinage of silver; but its effects were very 
unfortunate. The coinage of $2,000,000 a month under the 
law of 1878 had not caused serious disturbance, owing to the 
steady increase in the volume of the business of the country. 
For, as business expands, a corresponding expansion in the 
currency is needed. The silver dollar itself was indeed too 
bulky a coin to circulate ; but by issuing silver certificates the 
treasury was able to make the silver coinage useful. But 
after the Sherman Act went into operation, the volume of 
currency increased far faster than the volume of business. 
And meanwhile silver steadily depreciated, till the silver 
dollar was worth hardly more than half of its face value. 
So silver, the cheaper metal, was accumulated in the treasury 
in immense quantities ; gold, the dearer metal, was continually 
drawn from the treasury for foreign exchange. Hence the 
cheaper metal was threatening to drive out the dearer. Busi- 
ness was becoming stagnant in view of a probable change in 
the standard of value. 

II. A new tariff measure, known as the McKinley Bill, was 
passed by Congress. This was a natural consequence of the 
Republican triumph in the national election ; for the Republi- 
cans not only elected their presidential candidate, but they 
also secured a majority in the Senate and the House of Repre- 
sentatives. Hence they were able to pass a tariff law which 
fairly expressed the Republican theory that native industries 
should be amply protected from foreign competition. The 



452 



THE UNITED STATES 



McKinley Bill put so high a duty on foreign products as vir- 
tually to exclude many of them from the country. Thus, by 
diminishing exports and by putting sugar on the free list, the 
national revenue was curtailed by about $60,000,000, And 
this was in keeping with Republican policy. As there had 
for a considerable time been a yearly surplus in the national 
treasury, and this surplus could not now be used in redeeming 
the government bonds which had not yet matured, the Repub- 
licans claimed that a protective tariff performed a double ser- 
vice. It not only encouraged domestic manufactures, but it 
prevented the accumulation of an undesirable surplus. And 
for a time these statements seemed to be justified by facts. 

III. A tendency to extravagant expenditure began to mani- 
fest itself in Congress. The pension list was greatly increased 
by a bill granting eight dollars a month to every veteran over 
sixty years old who had served in the Union army during the 
Civil War. 

By this provision the amount yearly spent on pensions 
reached in 1893 the figure of $160,000,000. The naval appro- 
priation was, not without reason, made more ample, in order to 
provide for the construction of new cruisers. Large sums 
were allowed for improving rivers and harbors ; and in many 
ways the grants of public money were unnecessarily large. As 
a result pf this extravagance, the annual expenditure crept 
gradually toward the total of $400,000,000. Before President 
Harrison's administration came to an end, the revenues of the 
Government hardly exceeded its expenses.^ Nor was this con- 
dition of affairs in itself unfortunate. It was well that no 

1 The following figures show how revenues diminished and expenditures 
increased, until the latter exceeded the former : — 





Eevenue 


Expenditure 




1890 


$403,080,983 


$297,736,487 




1891 


392,612,447 


365,773,905 




1892 


354,937,784 


345,023,331 




1893 


385,819,629 


383,477,955 




1894 


297,772,019 


367,525,280 




1895 


313,390,075 


356,195,298 




1896 


326,976,200 


352,179,446 





CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 453 

surplus should exist as a temptation to cupidity. But the ten- 
dency toward extravagant expenditure was becoming firmly 
fixed in the minds of legislators, and was destined to produce 
unhappy results. For, even when income shrank, expenditure 
was not curtailed. Congress caught the spirit of extravagance 
which wealth and prosperity have developed in the American 
people. 

IV. Keciprocity, which had been advocated by Mr. Blaine, 
received a limited and partial trial while the McKinley Bill 
was in operation. By one of the provisions of that measure, 
sugars of a low grade, molasses, coffee, and hides were to be 
admitted into the United States free of duty unless the Presi- 
dent should be convinced that the countries producing these 
articles would not show equal favor to the products of the United 
States. Several Central American and South American states, 
besides some in Europe, took advantage of this provision. 
But the merits of reciprocity could not be fairly judged from 
this brief experiment. To the advocates of free trade the 
system seemed an improvement on a rigid high tariff, and 
a step toward the fulfilment of their own ideas. But Mr. 
Blaine always stoutly maintained that reciprocity was the foe 
of free trade and the ally of protection. 

V. There were various indications during President Har- 
rison's administration that socialistic opinions were gaining 
ground and that a warfare upon vested interests was preparing. 
Various strikes, some of them serious, occurred at this time. 
The single tax movement continued to be active. On Sep- 
tember 2, 1890, delegates of the single tax clubs all over the 
country assembled at New York to form a permanent and 
united organization. And the silver agitation, the full signifi- 
cance of which was hardly seen as yet, had by no means 
quieted down. Business men looked with alarm upon the con- 
tinual increase in the number of silver dollars. But not so 
the friends of the white metal. They still believed that the 
liberal coinage of silver was the only means of making money 
plentiful, and their antipathy to the gold standard grew more 
and more pronounced. Among the poorer classes in the 
country the conviction deepened that the capitalists were con- 
spiring against them, and were trying to drive silver out of 
circulation through the most selfish motives. Hence their 



454 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

feeling against trusts, monopolies, and wealthy corporations 
grew more intense and bitter. 

VI. In some parts of the country lynch law assumed a 
dangerous and alarming activity. White people were infuri- 
ated by the brutal crimes of negroes, and sometimes inflicted 
upon the offenders a lingering and agonizing death. Through 
wide sections of territory there was manifested a fierce 
impatience with the law's delays. Those guilty of crimes 
punishable by death were promptly executed ; for there seemed 
to exist a fear that the offenders would escape justice if brought 
to trial. So jails offered little security to their guilty inmates. 
Wardens and sheriffs were powerless to resist the mobs that 
gathered at the prison doors and demanded that notorious 
criminals should be given into their hands. Nor was this wild 
justice occasioned merely b}^ race feeling. White men as well as 
colored were torn from their cells at night, or openly snatched 
from the officers of justice, and executed without trial. 

This contempt for the processes of law was viewed with 
concern by all thoughtful citizens, and became a serious menace 
to American institutions. For, as time passed, this disease in 
the body politic only seemed to grow more desperate. As crimes 
became numerous, so did lynchings increase in frequency, until 
in many parts of the country the mobs learned to regard every 
depraved and vicious criminal as their legitimate prey. And 
all the more dangerous did these outbreaks of violence seem 
when they were contrasted with the almost unbroken reign of 
law in Europe. True, the populations of Europe are held in 
check by military rule. They do not take the administration 
of justice into their own hands because they dare not. The 
smallest outbreaks on their part would be promptly suppressed 
by the troops, though even the large standing armies do not 
prevent Socialists and other agitators from causing an occa- 
sional riot. But the very fact that lynch law is prevented in 
Europe keeps the taste for it from growing ; while the constant 
resort to it in America cannot fail to engender lawlessness, 
destroy the love of justice, and feed unhealthy and degraded 
appetites. Not, therefore, until this tendency to override the 
law has been controlled, will the institutions of the country 
rest securely upon the affections and the good-will of the 
people. 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 455 

VII. In the course of President Harrison's administration 
there occurred a striking reversal of the popular verdict given 
in the election of 1888. In that year the Republicans carried 
the country. In the elections of 1890 the Democrats made 
surprising gains and obtained a large majority in the lower 
House of Congress. ISTor was it easy to ascribe the reason for 
this change of feeling. It could hardly be said that the country 
was dissatisfied with the policy of the Republicans, for that 
policy had not been fairly tried in so short a time. At least, 
the fruits of it were not yet fully matured. So the Democratic 
gains seemed to be largely due to a discontent not easily 
analyzed. There is, apparently, a large class of voters in the 
country who have no strong party affiliations and no fixed 
political principles. They want prosperity. They are ready 
to vote for any creed or party that promises better times. 
Hence, the results of a national election are sometimes quite 
misleading. Apparently, they indicate that the country has 
accepted the i:»rinciples of the victorious party. In reality, 
they indicate that many voters, out of mere restlessness and 
unreasoning dissatisfaction, desire a change. 

VIII. As a result of the discontent prevailing among the 
farmers and many persons of moderate means, the Populist 
party was organized in 1892. Its members were persuaded 
that the two great parties of the country were controlled by 
the railroads, the banks, and the speculators. They therefore 
determined that their own organization should be entirely free 
from these conflicting influences, and they so announced in 
their platform. Their political creed is that all railways 
should be owned by the public, ^nd that Government should 
issue currency directly to the people, without using banks as a 
medium. They also believe in the free coinage of silver as 
a means of making money plentiful. The party has found 
many followers, especially among the unprosperous. In one 
or two States it has gained temporarily the ascendency. But 
it has only a handful of representatives in Congress, and has 
therefore been utterly unable to shape national legislation. 

Mr. Harrison was renominated by the Republicans in 1892, 
Whitelaw Reid being given the second place on the ticket. 
The Democrats for the third timje put Mr. Cleveland forward, 
and selected Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois as their candidate 



456 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

for the vice-presidency. Both parties were confident of carry- 
ing the election. The Democrats were encouraged by their 
victory in 1890. The Republicans believed that the McKinley 
tariff met with the approval of the country, and that the con- 
gressional elections in 1892 showed merely a passing dissatis- 
faction with the Republican policy. But the result of the 
contest showed that this dissatisfaction had spread and deep- 
ened, instead of disappearing. Mr. Cleveland had a handsome 
majority in the popular vote, and he received 276 electoral 
votes to 145 cast for Harrison, and 23 for Weaver, the candidate 
of the People's party. The Prohibitionists had nominated 
John Bidwell, but he obtained no votes in the Electoral College. 

Mr. Cleveland was duly inaugurated in March, 1893, and at 
once gave to the affairs of the nation that careful attention 
which they required. For the condition of the country was 
anything but satisfactory. Business was depressed, failures 
were common, financial disaster was apprehended. These 
evils President Cleveland attributed to excessive coinage of 
silver and to the high tariff established by the McKinley Bill. 
He was indeed a resolute foe to government paternalism in all 
its forms. More than once he had warned the country that 
government aid to the various forms of industry was robbing 
the people of their self-reliance and was undermining public 
morals. And he looked upon a protective tariff and upon legis- 
lation to help the production and the circulation of silver as 
peculiarly unfortunate forms of paternalism. 

As the business situation grew worse in the early months of 
President Cleveland's administration, he determined to call a 
special session of Congress to pass relief legislation. That 
body was accordingly convened on August 7, 1893. The Pres- 
ident called its attention to the unfortunate condition of affairs, 
showed how the gold standard was endangered by the constant 
issue of silver dollars and business consequently paralyzed, and 
demanded the repeal of the Sherman Bill of 1890. This rec- 
ommendation Congress was ready to adopt, though Mr. Cleve- 
land received in this matter as much support from the 
Republicans as from his own party. So the House promptly 
passed an act repealing the Sherman Bill ; and a majority in 
the Senate was eage-r to confirm this action. But the Senators 
who believed in free silver coinage for a long time prevented 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 457 

the Senate from voting. They insisted upon discussing the 
measure for repeal indefinitely, and they only allowed action to 
be taken on it after many weeks of obstruction. But finally, 
on the first of November, it was passed by the Senate and 
signed by the President. So the coinage of silver was stopped, 
the gold standard was temporarily made more secure, and busi- 
ness revived. 

But so long as the greenbacks were in circulation the gold 
standard was in danger. Several times during Mr. Cleveland's 
administration the amount of gold in the treasury fell consid- 
erably below f 100,000,000 and was only brought above the 
danger point by an issue of gold bonds. Such issue the Presi- 
dent was empowered to make by an act of July 14, 1870 ; and 
if Mr. Cleveland had not freely used this power, gold would 
have been driven out of circulation. For it was needed in 
large sums for foreign exchange; and, by means of the green- 
backs, those who wished to send gold abroad could draw it ad 
libitum from the treasury. Moreover, many were disposed to 
raid the treasury of its gold through fear that gold would 
soon be driven out of circulation by silver. Therefore Mr. 
Cleveland was obliged to contract for considerable sums of 
gold in order to keep the reserve in the treasury sufficiently 
large, and to issue bonds as security for the debt thus incurred. 
But this means of maintaining the gold standard was to his 
mind extremely objectionable, for it offered no permanent rem- 
edy for a desperate weakness in our fiscal system. More than 
once he urged Congress to retire the greenbacks, that the Gov- 
ernment might be wholly relieved of the obligation of supply- 
ing gold on demand. But this action Congress steadily refused 
to take. Relief came, however, somewhat unexpectedly toward 
the end of President Cleveland's administration. For the 
foreign demand for American wheat became very great, owing 
to scant crops in Europe and India ; our exports very largely 
exceeded our imports ; and by the laws- of exchange gold flowed 
very rapidly into the country from abroad. The gold reserve 
in the treasury was swelled to upward of $150,000,000. All 
fear of a change in the circulating medium was for a time put 
to rest. But the danger to the gold standard still existed, as 
the greenbacks had not been withdrawn from circulation. 

The sweeping Democratic victory in 1892 was supposed by 



458 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

the Democrats themselves to mean that the country demanded 
a large reduction in the tariff. That this supposition was cor- 
rect may well be doubted. In late years the voters of the 
country have apparently changed their creed so many times that 
it is difficult to determine their attitude toward the tariff ques- 
tion. Hardly does one party win a victory at the polls, and 
acquire a handsome majority in Congress, before the decision 
is reversed and the other party rides triumphantly into power. 
Hence it is almost impossible to decide whether the people of 
the country want a high tariff or a low one. Probably the 
majority have no clear or decided views upon the subject. 
Thoy want a scale of duties that will establish prosperity, but 
they are altogether unable to make sound inferences upon so 
intricate a question. 

But the Democrats were unquestionably right in attacking 
the tariff question, whatever tlieir victory in the election of 
1892 may have signified. Their party stood committed to a 
low tariff policy, and they were bound to legislate in accordance 
with their platform. They accordingly framed a bill which 
greatly reduced the duties on imports and practically granted 
raw material; and it was passed by the House early in 1894. 
It was framed chiefly by Mr. Wilson, a representative of Vir- 
ginia, and was originally called by his name. As arranged by 
him and as passed by the House, it fairly expressed the Demo- 
cratic theory that tariff is for revenue rather than for protec- 
tion. But some of the leading Democratic Senators desired 
protection for articles in which they were financially interested ; 
and under their influence the bill was so essentially changed 
that it could hardly be recognized. Coal and iron were taken 
off the free list, and the duties on many articles were -largely 
increased. The measure no longer reflected the principles of 
the Democratic party, and the House was very unwilling to 
accept the Senate amendments. For a time it looked as if the 
cause of tariff reform would be utterly lost in this disagree- 
ment between the two congressional bodies. But finally the 
House passed the bill as amended by the Senate, and Mr. 
Cleveland, by failing to return it with objections within ten 
days after receiving it, allowed it to become a law. In thus 
refusing to give it his signature, he showed his disapproval of 
the Senate's amendments. On the whole, the scale of duties it 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 459 

established was considerably lower than that of the McKinley 
Bill of 1890, — so much lower, indeed, as to call forth severe 
criticisms from the Republicans. They determined to pass a 
strong protection measure in place of it as soon as they should 
be restored to power. 

Evidence was given from time to time that the discontent 
among the poorer classes of the country was by no means 
diminishing. In the spring of 1894: a man named Coxey 
induced bands of unemployed men all over the country to 
march on to Washington that they might present their griev- 
ances to Congress. Those that started on this bizarre errand 
gave much trouble in the Western States by boarding railroad 
trains ; but, in spite of their lawless efforts to steal rides, very 
few of them reached their destination. Coxey was himself 
arrested in the national Capitol, and the whole project resulted 
in a farce. More serious Avas an extensive strike of railroad 
employees that occurred in the summer of the same year. 
Beginning in the workyards of the Pullman Car Company 
near Chicago, it rapidly spread, until forty thousand railroad 
hands were idle, and most of the railroads in the West were 
unable to run their trains. Chicago became the centre of the 
disturbance, and there the strikers resorted to violence, intimi- 
dation, and wholesale destruction of railroad property. As 
Governor Altgeld of Illinois did not take summary measures 
to suppress the riot, President Cleveland sent United States 
troops to Chicago to quell the disturbance. And though he 
took this action against the earnest protest of Governor Alt- 
geld, he was fully sustained by the sober Sentiment of the 
country. For the rioters, by interfering with the United States 
mail service, made their violent conduct an offence against the 
national Government and gave the Government a perfectly valid 
reason for using its strength to put them down. So the out- 
break was soon quieted. The strikers resumed work; the trains 
ran without interference. Once more had the central Govern- 
ment of the nation shown itself equal to an emergency and 
earned the respect of thoughtful citizens. Nor was its victory 
over lawlessness without its instructive lesson to railway own- 
ers. All over the country the managers of street railways tried 
to secure mail transportation over their lines, that they might 
count on Government protection in case of strikes. 



460 THE UNITED STATES book in 

While the laboring classes were manifesting their dissatis- 
faction in this violent manner, the wide and deep-seated feel- 
ing against capital and large fortunes showed itself in more 
peaceable ways. The State legislatures passed laws taxing 
inheritance and restricting the rights of monopolies ; and the 
national legislature, in 1894, attempted to increase the dimin- 
ishing revenues of the country by taxing incomes larger than 
forty-five hundred dollars. It was noticeable that those who 
voted in favor of this bill came largely from the poorer dis- 
tricts of the country, and those who voted against it from the 
centres where capital was accumulated. So the measure was 
additional evidence of the widespread conviction that capital 
should contribute more generously to the public support. 
Nor was this conviction by any means confined to the men of 
slender means. Many fair-minded observers of existing eco- 
nomical conditions believe the income tax a perfectly fair one, 
and a legitimate means of making wealth beneficial to the 
State. But in 1895 the tax on incomes was declared by the 
Supreme Court of the United States to be a direct tax and 
therefore unconstitutional, because it was not laid by appor- 
tionment. 

Foreign affairs several times engrossed attention during Mr. 
Cleveland's term of office. The Bering Sea question, which 
had been the cause of long diplomatic negotiations between 
Great Britain and the United States, was finally settled in a 
manner adverse to the latter country in 1894. For the Uirited 
States had claimed that it had a right to prevent the killing of 
seals in the open sea ; but the court of arbitration appointed 
to consider the matter decided against the claim. That their 
decision was legally correct there can be no doubt. Pelagic 
sealing can only be stopped by an agreement between the two 
countries. But unless such an agreement is made and enforced, 
the seals will soon be exterminated. But a far more serious 
complication with England was caused by the Venezuela boun- 
dary question. As England, under Lord Salisbury's guidance, 
resisted the claim of the United States to have a voice in the 
matter, Mr. Cleveland took a very firm stand upon the ques- 
tion in his message to Congress in December, 1895. So men- 
acing were his utterances that feeling was greatly excited in 
both countries, and war was considered possible. But after a 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 461 

time calmer counsels prevailed. Congress aiithorized the 
President to appoint a commission to investigate and report 
upon the subject, and England finally allowed the question to 
be decided by arbitration. But the difficulties occasioned by 
the rebellion in Cuba (p. 108) were not so easily settled. For, 
as the war dragged on and Spain seemed unable to stamp out 
the insurrection, many Congressmen insisted that the United 
States should recognize the Cubans as belligerents, and should 
be prepared to annex the island if opportunity offered. But 
this policy Mr. Cleveland steadily opposed, and in his last mes- 
sage to Congress he expressed the conviction that the Cuban 
insurgents were without an organized government and could 
not propei-ly be considered a warlike power. At the same time 
he gave Spain warning that the United States might feel justi- 
fied in interfering, if she did not suppress the insurrection 
within a reasonable time. 

This attitude was discreet and dignified, but it was much 
criticised by Mr. Cleveland's political opponents, as was also 
his conduct with reference to the Hawaiian Islands. Queen 
Liliuokalani succeeded to the sovereignty of the islands in 1891, 
upon the death of her brother. King Kalakaua ; but her rule 
was so corrupt that she was deposed in 1893 by a small but 
influential portion of the population, who proclaimed a Repub- 
lic and issued a new Constitution. Upon these revolutionary 
proceedings the American people were inclined to look with 
favor; but Mr. Cleveland recommended that Liliuokalani be 
restored to power. For a commissioner whom he had specially 
sent to investigate the Hawaiian difficulties reported that the 
American Minister on the islands had used his own influence 
and the presence of a United States ship-of-war in support of 
the insurgents. But the Senate declined to adopt the Presi- 
dent's view ; and on May 31, 1894, it agreed unanimously upon 
a policy of non-intervention in Hawaiian affairs. 

As a civil service reformer Mr. Cleveland made a much 
better record in his second administration than he did in his 
first. By the Civil Service Law passed in 1883 only about 
fourteen thousand offices were filled through competitive 
examination. But gradually the number was increased. By 
the terms of the law the examination system could, at the 
discretion of the President, be made applicable to many of the 



462 THE UNITED STATES book in 

smaller postal and customs offices ; and both Mr. Harrison 
and Mr. Cleveland took advantage of this provision. Presi- 
dent Harrison widened the application of the law; and in 
the last year of his second administration President Cleveland 
applied it to forty thousand offices, which were about all that 
still remained outside of its scope. Thus civil service reform, 
which had so few friends at first and never found favor with 
the politicians, achieved in the end a signal triumph. Govern- 
ment officials are now appointed for merit, not for party 
service ; and they are discharged only for cause, not because 
of a victory or a defeat at the polls. Nor can they be assessed 
for political purposes as they were in the most open and 
shameful manner before the days of the reform. It is worthy 
of note also that some of the States are adopting the national 
system of appointment to office. Both Massachusetts and 
New York have passed excellent civil service laws ; but in the 
latter State the purport of the law has been largely defeated 
by corrupt political influence. 

The presidential campaign of 1896 was one of the most 
interesting in the history of the country. Tlie Republicans 
nominated William McKinley of Ohio, who had been one of 
the foremost leaders of the party ever since his name had 
been associated with the tariff bill of 1890; and Garret A. 
Hobart of New Jersey. In their platform they declared for 
the maintenance of the gold standard and for a revision of the 
tariff. The Democrats made the currency question the all- 
important one, and expressed themselves so unequivocally in 
favor of the free coinage of silver that the delegates who 
believed in maintaining the gold standard were driven out 
of the convention. Their nominees were William J. Bryan of 
Nebraska and Arthur Sewall of Maine. The nomination of 
Mr. Bryan was indorsed by the Populists, but they refused to 
accept Mr. Sewall as their candidate for Vice-President because 
of his wealth, and nominated instead Mr. Thomas E. Watson, 
an editor of Georgia. The *Socialists and Prohibitionists also 
made nominations, and the Gold Democrats too put their own 
candidates in the field. For they were aware that many 
Democrats in the Western States Avho were bitterly opposed 
to free coinage were yet equally opposed to voting a Republi- 
can ticket. So, to give such voters a ticket they could con- 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 463 

scientiously support and to give Democratic principles npon 
the tariff question a full and fair expression, they met at 
Indianapolis and nominated Senator Palmer of Illinois and 
ex-Governor Buckner of Kentucky. 

As the campaign proceeded, the currency question became 
the absorbing one and drove all others from the field. The 
whole political strength of the nation was arrayed for or against 
the free coinage of silver. So the ordinary party distinctions 
were entirely lost. Lifelong Democrats declared in favor of 
the Republican ticket ; and the Democrats who indorsed the 
Bryan nomination entirely abandoned the principles the party 
had stood for since 1789. For the Democrats had always 
opposed strong centralization and paternalism in all its forms. 
But now they wished to force silver coinage upon the country, 
put heavy taxes on wealth, and depreciate property by the 
power of the Government. So, while they still opposed protec- 
tion, their opposition had no logical force and consistency ; 
for they wished to give to silver the protection they denied to 
other things. Thus they at once condemned paternalism and 
indorsed it. And the party, which in the days of slavery had 
been led by the Southern aristocracy, had now become the 
organization of the dissatisfied. It embodied most of the 
socialistic tendencies that had been manifesting themselves 
more and more since the beginning of Hayes's presidency. 
The party leaders were not prosperous men as a rule, not 
trained political thinkers. They were sturdy, intense, and 
honest men who were thoroughly opposed to the accumulation 
of large fortunes and equally opposed to political corru].)tion ; 
while their followers were for the most part hard-working 
men, who sincerely believed that the free coinage of silver 
would put the poor and the rich on a more equal footing. 

Thus the campaign assumed, as it went on, an extraordinary 
character. It was not a contest of Republicans with Demo- 
crats. It was a warfare of classes. The poor were arrayed 
against the rich, the friends of vested interests against those 
who did not regard the rights of property as sacred, the 
supporters of the gold standard against those who wished to 
abolish it. And though the campaign did not call forth 
personal abuse, like that of 1884, it roused the most intense 
and widespread interest. Both parties were confident, and 



464 THE UNITED STATES book m 

yet the issues were so important that neither party was free 
from anxiety. Tremendous efforts were made on both sides 
to reach and influence voters. Tracts upon financial questions 
were circulated by the million. The land resounded with 
arguments for or against the free coinage of silver. But, as 
the months passed, the Republicans became more and more 
confident of success, and the event justified their anticipa- 
tions. For Mr. McKinley received a majority of nearly a 
million in the popular vote, and 277 electoral votes against 
132 given to Mr. Bryan. So the security of the gold standard 
was established for at least four years, and business began 
at once to revive. 

President McKinley's inaugural address was read with eager 
interest, for there was a general uncertainty as to the position 
he would take upon the Cuban question. To the relief of sober- 
thinking people throughout the country, he recommended that 
the policy of non-intervention be continued; and Congress 
therefore turned its attention, not to martial matters, but to 
financial questions. But, although the Republican party stood 
pledged to currency reform,^ it was the tariff that was made the 
subject of new legislation. A new tariff bill was prepared 
under the supervision of Mr. Dingley, the Chairman of the 
Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives, 
and was passed by the House on March 31, 1897 ; and in a 
somewhat modified form by the Senate on the 7th of the 
following July. Though it differed in many particulars from 
the McKinley Bill of 1890, its general character was the same, 
its object being to give ample protection to American industries. 
Wool and other raw materials were taken off the free list, and 
the scale of duties was made so high that the volume of imports 

1 This pledge was ultimately redeemed ; for in his annual message, read on 
December 5, 1899, President McKinley recommended that the gold standard be 
made secure by appropriate legislation, and bills to accomplish that end were 
accordingly introduced into the House and the Senate. The Senate bill 
differed materially from that of the House in the provisions it made for 
refunding the national debt : but each bill recognized the gold dollar as the 
unit of value ; declared that all forms of United States money must be main- 
tained at a parity with it ; and empowered the Secretary of the Treasury to 
sell bonds whenever necessary in order to maintain the gold reserve. The 
House bill was passed on December 18, 1899, and the Senate bill on February 
15, 1900. The two measures were brought into harmony by a joint committee, 
and the amended bill was signed by the President on March 14, 1900. 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKlNLEY 465 

was in consequence diminished, and the national revenues were 
not swelled as was expected by the advocates of Mr. Dingley's 
measure. Appropriations were increased by Congress rather 
than curtailed, and it seemed probable that the national treas- 
ury would still have to meet an annual deficit. But before the 
merits of the Dingley Bill as a producer of revenue were fairly 
settled,^ the thoughts of the country were turned away from 
purely financial questions by the danger of a war with Spain. 

In his annual message to Congress in December, 1897, 
President McKinley showed himself still opposed to active 
interference in Cuban affairs ; but the sufferings caused by 
General Weyler's policy of concentration roused the deep 
indignation of the American people, and led many members of 
Congress to demand that the United States should give armed 
assistance to the Cuban insurgents. This demand President 
McKinley resisted for a time ; but on the night of February 15, 
1898, the United States battleship Maine was blown up and 
destroyed in the harbor of Havana, and after this the war 
party in Congress gained greatly in aggressiveness and strength. 
That the Spanish authorities at Havana were responsible for 
the destruction of the Maine was never proved; but a large 
portion of the American people believed that this nefarious 
deed was done with their cognizance and sanction, and fiercer 
and fiercer grew their resentment toward the Spanish nation. 
Under the influence of this feeling the two Houses of Congress 
passed joint resolutions on April 19, demanding that Spain 
should withdraw at once from Cuba, and empowering the 
President to use the land and naval forces of the United States 
to carry this resolution into effect. But before these resolutions 
could be delivered, the Spanish Government broke off diplo- 
matic relations with the United States and gave the American 
minister his passport. At the same time the Spanish Minister 
left Washington. As this meant that Spain preferred war 
rather than grant the demands of the United States, the 
President, on April 21, issued orders to blockade Havana. 

But Spain was in no condition to oppose so formidable a 
power as the United States. Her treasury was depleted, her 
credit gone, her navies ill manned, her strategy inadequate. 

1 With the growth of prosperity and the expansion of commerce the 
Dingley Bill proved to be a good revenue producer. 
2h 



466 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

The war, consequently, was of short duration, though it was 
not ended until some bloody battles had been fought. On 
May 1 Admiral Dewey destroyed in Manila Bay the Spanish 
fleet that was stationed there to protect the Philippine Islands; 
and on July 3 the squadrons of Admirals Schley and Sampson 
annihilated the ships of Admiral Cervera near Santiago. Only 
eleven days later the city of Santiago was forced to surrender 
to General Shafter, who commanded the United States forces 
in front of the city, and Spanish resistance came to an end. 
A truce was declared on August 12, and the terms of peace 
were settled at Paris by a commission of Spaniards and Ameri- 
cans. Spain's representatives contended long and stubbornly 
against America's demands, which included the surrender of 
Porto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines ; but the American com- 
missioners would make no concessions beyond allowing Spain 
an indemnity of $20,000,000 for the Philippines, and agreeing 
that for five years Spanish goods should be received in these 
islands__on equal terms with those of the United States. To 
these terms the Spanish commissioners were obliged to consent; 
and the treaty, as it was arranged at Paris, was finally ratified 
both by Spain and the United States. 

But it was easier for the latter country to ratify the treaty 
than to carry its provisions into effect. What was the United 
States to do with the islands of which it now had the disposal? 
The war had been undertaken, so at least its heartiest advo- 
cates claimed, for freedom and humanity. It would therefore 
seem the fitting course to see that the Spaniards evacuated the 
islands they had fortified, and that the islands themselves 
were given over to their own inhabitants. But such a course 
was pronounced difi&cult, and indeed impossible, by a majority 
in Congress and by a large number of American citizens. Even 
in Cuba, which the Spanish were required to evacuate by Jan- 
uary 1, 1899, the situation was difficult. The island was put 
under a military government by the United States, and reaped 
great and immediate benefits from this regime. But how long 
this form of government would be necessary and what disposal 
would ultimately be made of the island, no one could say. For 
a desire to annex it found wide expression in the United States. 

Still more troublesome was the condition of affairs in the 
Philippines. To give these islands over to the Filipinos, it 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 467 

was stoutly asserted, would only bring disaster ; for the 
islanders were incapable of establishing a stable government 
and giving due protection to commerce and trade. Hence the 
United States was in duty bound to rule the Philippines until 
their inhabitants had acquired the art of self-government and 
shown themselves fit to manage their own affairs. That these 
assertions were well founded may be questioned. They involve 
the fallacy that none but highly civilized peoples can take care 
of themselves. And that this is a fallacy is shown by history. 
For few civilized countries have anything that even approxi- 
mates to perfect government; and the most uncivilized peo- 
ples do not usually deteriorate until they come in contact with 
civilization. But with such ideas as these neither the Govern- 
ment nor the war party in the country was in sympathy. 
Almost before the war with Spain was concluded, the cry for 
imperialism and annexation was heard ; and on June 15, 1898, 
the House voted to annex the Hawaiian Islands, the Senate con- 
curring on the 5th of July following. Thus the appetite for new 
territory was created, and, once created, it rapidly increased. 
When it was found that the terms of peace were to include the 
surrender of the Philippines, there grew up a widespread desire 
to make them a United States possession. To this desire Presi- 
dent McKinley partially acceded ; and the troops that had been 
sent to the islands after Dewey's victory were kept there and 
put to the unpleasant task of making the authority of the 
United States everywhere recognized. 

An unpleasant task it certainly proved and a difficult one as 
well. Aguinaldo, a brave and capable leader of the islanders 
when they were in rebellion against Spain, wished to put him- 
self at the head of a native government, and was unwilling to 
see the islands pass under foreign control. He therefore re- 
sisted the troops of the United States ; and his soldiers showed 
such courage that they were only defeated after severe fighting 
in which they suffered heavy losses. Kor were they at once 
brought into subjection even by defeat ; for, driven from one 
stronghold, they found it easy to withdraw into the wilderness 
and make a further stand. Hence the closing years of the cen- 
tury found the United States engaged in a troublesome guerilla 
warfare which seemed to resemble those wearing conflicts so 
frequently waged by Spain in her far-away colonial possessions. 



468 THE UNITED STATES " book hi 

Nor was it easy to say how the islands should be governed 
after they were conquered. Whether, indeed, the Constitution 
gives warrant for annexing and ruling distant countries has 
been earnestly discussed, but without satisfactory conclusion ; 
for the friends and the enemies of national expansion each 
hold that the Constitution supports their view.^ In the very 
nature of things there . must be profound and irreconcilable 
difference over such an important question, just as there has 
been fundamental disagreement in regard to the powers of the 
central Government ever since the Constitution was adopted. 
Neither argument nor experience will ever heal such dissen- 
sions, for they spring from that freedom of thought and ex- 
pression that belongs to a great democracy. It is only to 
be hoped that through the clash of opposing views the nation 
may be saved from irremediable error. 

So intense was the interest in the war and afterward in the 
question of annexation and expansion, that other matters failed 
to attract the attention they deserved. Even the War Revenue 
Act, which was passed by Congress on June 9, 1898, did not 
arouse serious and prolonged discussion. For the people of 
the country, knowing that the wealth of the nation was almost 
unlimited, submitted without murmuring to stamp duties and 
a number of internal revenue taxes which were made neces- 
sary by the heavy expenses of the war. A loan not to exceed 
$400,000,000 was also authorized by Congress, and three per 
cent bonds to the amount of $200,000,000 were issued by the 
national treasury and immediately taken by the people of the 
country. That the loan was needed was soon made apparent ; 
for even the increased revenues of the Government did not 
suffice to defray the national expenses after the war began. 
And though all had supposed that the need of extra taxation 
would pass Avith the establishment of peace, the policy of an- 
nexation proved too costly to allow the national revenues to be 
curtailed. So many troops were kept in Cuba and the Philip- 
pines, that the expenses of the nation were put upon a war 
basis for an indefinite period, and the prospect of removing the 
war taxes grew remote. 

1 The American Laiv Revieiv for March and April, 1899, discusses the con- 
stitutional aspect of expansion and imperialism ; but the literature bearing 
upon the subject has become so extensive and is so rapidly growing as to defy 
meution. 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 469 

But the people of the country seemed to bear their financial 
burdens with entire ease ; for soon after the close of the war 
with Spain a period of great prosperity began. So extensive 
was the demand for American cereals and manufactures that 
exports exceeded imports and there was a steady flow of gold 
into the country. The stock of gold in the treasury increased 
until it amounted to more than a quarter of a billion of dol- 
lars, and all fears of a change in the standard of value were 
allayed. With this condition of affairs came a revival of 
business confidence, a buoyant stock market, and great indus- 
trial and commercial activity. Mills and factories were busy, 
new enterprises were promoted, and wages were increased. 
But this very prosperity was detrimental to the cause of cur- 
rency reform ; for it blinded the eyes of the many to the 
defects of the monetary system of the country. Only finan- 
cial experts were alive to the need of new fiscal legislation ; 
Congress made no effort to supply a satisfactory circulating 
medium. The greenbacks were not retired, and the national 
bank-notes did not pass freely into the country districts where 
they were greatly needed. 

Prosperity and national expansion also diverted attention 
from important attempts at arbitration. Great Britain had 
showed so friendly an attitude toward the United States dur- 
ing the war with Spain, that English-speaking people the 
world over felt strongly their common kinship and were 
inclined to adjust all differences in an amicable way. It was 
owing to this state of feeling that a Joint Anglo-American 
Commission was appointed in 1898 by the American, Canadian, 
and British Governments to consider all matters of dispute 
between Canada and the United States, and settle these differ- 
ences, if possible, by mutual concessions. The subjects to be 
discussed were : — 

The Bering Sea Sealing Question. 

Reciprocal Mining Regulations. 

The Alaskan Boundary. 

The Preservation of the Fisheries in the Great Lakes. 

The North Atlantic Fishery Question. 

Alien Labor Laws. 

Reciprocity of Trade. 

The Commission met at Quebec on August 23, 1898, and, 



470 THE UNITED STATES book iu 

after sitting till October 8, adjourned to meet again in Wash- 
ington on the first day of the following November. This 
second session was prolonged for several months, but was 
almost entirely barren of results. Keciprocity proved a 
troublesome cause of disagreement, for large private and cor- 
porate interests were opposed to those concessions by which 
alone there could be a free interchange of products between 
Canada and the United States; but the rock on which the 
Commission split was the Alaskan boundary question. After 
the discovery of gold in the Klondike region, Canada became 
desirous of acquiring a port on the Pacific in the far North 
that would assist the transportation of mining products and 
bring supplies as near as possible to the mining districts. 
Accordingly, the British and Canadian members of the Com- 
mission attempted to prove that the boundary between Alaska 
and British Columbia, when correctly established, gave Canada 
access to the ocean. But this claim seemed to be utterly 
without historic basis, and encountered the most uncompromis- 
ing resistance from America's representatives. 

It was unfortunate that these differences of opinion proved 
irreconcilable, and that so praiseworthy an attempt at inter- 
national arbitration should have met with scant success. Ever 
since the War of 1812 America and England have settled their 
disputes by peaceable conference, and one troublesome prob- 
lem after another has been solved without a sacrifice of 
friendly relations. The Maine boundary was arranged by 
diplomacy in 1842 ; Oregon was secured to the United States 
in a similar manner in 1846; in 1872 the Alabama claims 
were settled by arbitration, and the Island of San Juan was 
awarded to the United States by the Emperor of Germany, — 
occurrences which were mentioned with hearty approval by 
President Grant in his annual message to Congress ; the rights 
of Americans in the Canadian fisheries were determined, ad- 
versely to the United States, in 1877 ; the Bering Sea sealing 
question was submitted to arbitration in 1894, and the Vene- 
zuela boundary dispute in 1896. It is to be hoped, therefore, 
that continued negotiations will adjust the differences between 
Canada and the United States, and will add to these triumphs 
of diplomacy and arbitration. 

Much more serious than this temporary failure to come to an 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISO\, AND McKESfLEY 471 

agreement with Canada was the injury done to the cause of 
civil service reform in 1899. Ever since Garfield's death in 
1881 the tendency of the Presidents has been to widen the 
application of the civil service rules ; but President McKinley 
saw tit to adopt a different policy. There was, indeed, good 
reason why confidential clerks, and officers and deputies whose 
duties were largely of a personal character, should be appointed 
by their immediate superiors rather than by the Civil Service 
Commission. But by orders issued on May 29, 1899, Presi- 
dent McKinley withdrew an unwarrantably large number of 
officers from the application of the civil service rules, and so 
far gave encouragement to the spoilsmen and place-hunters. 
According to statements made by the National Civil Service 
Reform League, the number of offices thus removed from the 
classified service was not below four thousand, as was claimed 
by the President and his friends, but upward of ten thousand ; 
and thus an exceedingly bad precedent had been established. 
For if succeeding executives should imitate President Mc- 
Kinley's action, the reform that had made such gratifying 
progress would suffer irretrievable disaster. To thoughtful 
citizens this failure to maintain the highest standards of 
efficiency in the civil service has an important bearing upon 
the question of national expansion. The attempt to govern 
distant countries, separated from the Republic by thousands 
of miles of sea, is at best a hazardous one. It can be made 
thoroughly successful only by securing for all branches of the 
government service men of integrity and proved ability. If 
the control of these distant territories falls into the hands 
of political adventurers who are rewarded with office because 
of their devotion to the party in power, the most unfortunate 
consequences must follow. Por in that case, instead of set- 
ting so-called inferior peoples an example of good govern- 
ment, the Republic would only invite their just and indignant 
censure. 

And that the danger is a real one can hardly be denied. By 
the elections of 1899 the people of the nation indorsed the 
administration of President McKinley. It was therefore prac- 
tically settled that the Philippines, and perhaps Cuba and 
Porto Rico also, should become a permanent part of the terri- 
tory of the United States. And undoubtedly this action of 



472 THE UNITED STATES book hi 

the pfeople was based upon honest conviction. The Republic 
has stood for free and honest government ; naturally, therefore, 
its citizens believe that it can extend to less highly developed 
countries a pure and enlightened rule. But they ignore the 
intensely practical and self-satisfied character of the Anglo- 
Saxon mind. Unquestionably humane, the Anglo-Saxon for- 
gets his humanity in the absorbing struggle for self -advancement. 
Moral sentiment was lost sight of when the United States 
craved the lands of the native Indians. It may be lost sight 
of again as the task of ruling distant islands taxes the nation's 
energies through a long series of years. To-day it is proposed 
to give the islands a just and enlightened government; to- 
morrow the cry may be that any American is good enough to 
govern a Filipino. And if that attitude of cynicism is once 
assumed, America's government of " inferior " peoples is likely 
to be a story of dishonor. 

It is with mixed feelings, therefore, that the thoughtful 
American views his country's past and looks forward to its 
future. The Republic of the United States has now existed 
for over a century. Originally one of the feeblest of nations, 
it is now one of the most powerful. No European country 
except Russia surpasses it in population; in wealth it is 
equalled by no country in the world. And its beneficent gifts 
to humanity are commensurate with its greatness. It has pro- 
vided a home for the struggling and oppressed. It has given 
all its citizens opportunity to rise. It has shown that a pure 
democracy secures the greatest good to the greatest number. 
In no other country in the world, assuredly, do so large a pro- 
portion of the people live in comfort and contentment. But 
the Republic, with all its prosperity, has encountered grave 
dangers in the past; it may encounter still graver dangers in 
the future. Even now it exemplifies the truth of this utterance, 
"Every democracy the world has ever known has exhibited 
tAvo dangerous tendencies, one to materialism, and the other to 
tyranny by the majority." ^ Materialism does indeed threaten 
the United States. The riches of the country have increased 
enormously during the last quarter of a century, and with their 
increase has come arrogance, luxury, and undue valuation of 
sensuous and material pleasures. And the very growth of 
iFrom an address by President Eliot of Harvard University. 



CHAP. X CLEVELAND, HARRISON, AND McKINLEY 473 

these things has wrought a cleavage in the social life of the 
nation. The poor man has learned to view the rich man as his 
enemy. Hence, the many, prejudiced, resentful, communistic, 
and aggressive, are banded against the few ; and the few, to 
render an unequal combat equal, use their vast wealth to make 
parties and legislatures do their bidding. And so political 
purity is ground between the upper and nether millstones. 
The rule of the majority means the tyranny of crude and 
undisciplined minds; while the rule of the few means the 
tyranny of insensate and insatiate greed. Moreove^-, the many 
and the few sometimes combine, and the unprincipled dema- 
gogue, with vast wealth at his command, becomes the vicious 
leader of a horde of obsequious henchmen. From such unholy 
alliances arise corruption in cities, unsound legislation, subser- 
vience to party, neglect of public welfare, and a whole train of 
political evils which vitiate the life of the nation. 

Accordingly, the patriotic citizen of America cannot afford 
to become self-complacent or inactive. In spite of its defects 
he may reasonably regard his country as the best to live in in 
the world ; but he has also to see that he can only keep it so 
by untiring and strenuous endeavor. Great, therefore, is the 
responsibility that rests upon the American people. A great 
democracy could hardly be built upon better foundations than 
have been laid in the United States, and the failure of the 
Republic would be a disastrous blow to the cause of constitu- 
tional liberty. It is for the patriots of the land to prevent 
such a calamity, and " highly resolve that government of the 
people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the 
earth." 



BOOK ly 

SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA 



MEXICO 

CENTRAL AMERICA 

Guatemala 
Honduras 
Salvador 
Nicaragua 
Costa Rica 



SOUTH AMERICA 

The Argentlne Republic 

Bolivia 

Brazil 

Chili 

Colombia 

Ecuador 

Paraguay 

Peru 

Uruguay 

Venezuela 



CHAPTER I 

MEXICO 

Conquered by Fernando Cortez in 1521, Mexico remained 
subject to Spain for just three hundred years. But Spanish 
rule was as harsh and oppressive abroad as it was narrow and 
unprogressive at home. It was bitterly hated in all the 
Spanish Colonies, for it brought the colonists little besides 
persecution. The Mexicans found it galling in the extreme, 
and if they submitted to it patiently, it was only from a sense 
of their own powerlessness. Awed by the soldiery, they could 
not resent abuses. The natives were enslaved, the mines were 
worked for the Spanish Government, education was kept in 
the hands of the priests, and the viceroys .were usually broken- 
down courtiers who took no interest in the land they ruled. 
Even the industries natural to the country were stifled if they 
could by any possibility rival those of Spain. The Mexicans 
were forbidden to cultivate the vine, the olive, the mulberry, 
and fibre-yielding plants ; for these things were produced in 
the mother-country. They could not raise sheep lest they 
should injure the Spanish wool grower; and they were pro- 
hibited from manufacturing any articles that were fashioned 
in Spain. 

It was not strange, then, that the dawn of the nineteenth cen- 
tury found Mexico in a ferment of discontent. But the hatred 
of the people was not directed chiefly against the Spanish 
Government. What the Mexicans desired was not so much 
independence of Spain as freedom from caste distinctions which 
allowed prosperity and comfort only to a privileged few. Three 
classes there were who prospered under the rule of Spain : the 
priests, the gachupins, or native Spaniards, and the army. To 
these alone a free, easy, and comfortable existence was possible. 
The wealth of the country, the emoluments of office, and the 

479 



480 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

honors of social leadership belonged exclusively to the members 
of these three orders ; all others were kept in ignorance and 
poverty and deprived of political rights. So the outbreak that 
came in 1810 ^ was primarily a protest against an intolerable 
class rule, and against the movement were arrayed, not merely 
the army, as representing the Spanish Government, but the 
Church and the aristocracy as well. The possessors of wealth 
and privilege had no mind to lose their preeminence in the 
country. 

The leader of the revolution of 1810 was a parish priest, 
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who has been termed the Father of 
Mexican Independence. In spite of the fact that the army, 
the Church, and the gachupins were against him, he gained 
some important victories. Had he shown greater energy at 
some critical moments, he might possibly have brought the 
revolution to a speedy and successful termination ; but he was 
eventually defeated and captured, and on July 30, 1811, he 
was shot with other leaders of the movement. His place was 
taken by Jose Maria Morelos, who resembled Hidalgo, not 
merely in being a priest, but in having a like career and meet- 
ing the same fate. He was shot toward the end of December, 
1815. Other leaders who came forward to head the movement 
for independence had no better success, and an interminable 
warfare seemed to be in prospect. For Spain could not crush 
the people into absolute submission, and no more could the 
Mexicans drive the Spaniards out of the country. 

But in 1820 political occurrences in Spain gave a new com- 
plexion to the Mexican revolution. In that year the Spanish 
army proclaimed the liberal Constitution of 1812, and the 
gachupins were filled with alarm lest the same movement 
should spread in Mexico and deprive them of their ascendency. 
If Spain could adopt a liberal Constitution, Mexico might 
follow her example. They considered it wise, therefore, to 
head the revolution themselves, and turn it to their own 
advantage. Augustin de Iturbide, the son of a Spaniard by a 
Mexican mother, willingly consented to lead them, and suc- 
ceeded in winning the confidence of Guerrero, at that time the 
leader of the revolutionary army. So the popular and aristo- 
cratic elements of the country were now united, and were too 
1 It was on September 16 that the first uprising occurred. 



CHAP. I MEXICO 481 

strong for the forces of the Spanish Government. The inde- 
pendence of Mexico was secured in 1821, but independence did 
not at once bring the triumph of liberal principles and the estab- 
lishment of a republican form of government. It was through 
the aristocracy that the revolution was successful, and the aris- 
tocracy now controlled the situation. Ferdinand VII., whose 
Spanish subjects were discontented under his rule, was invited 
to become King of Mexico, and the Catholic religion was recog- 
nized as of sole authority in the State. But though a treaty 
embodying this arrangement was signed by General O'Donoju, 
the last viceroy of Mexico, Spain naturally refused to ratify it. 
So the aristocracy, unable to establish a monarchy, determined 
to create an empire. Still accepting the leadership of Iturbide, 
they crowned him Emperor on June 21, 1822. 

But the Conservatives and the Church could not retain their 
ascendency. The men who for ten years had been struggling 
to free Mexico from Spain were not disposed to sit quietly 
under the rule of an oligarchy. Seeing that the empire did not 
give them the freedom they had been fighting for, they turned 
against it and overthrew Iturbide, after he had reigned about 
ten months. And now the Liberals, having gained control of 
affairs, determined to establish a liberal form of government. 
They took the Constitution of the United States as their 
model, arbitrarily divided the country into sections called 
states, and made it a Republic. The Constitution upon which 
the new government was based was proclaimed on October 4, 
1824. 

But Mexico had had no experience in self-government, and 
was not ready for republican institutions. For three centuries 
her people had been under an absolute sway. The duties of 
citizenship they did not understand and were by no means 
anxious to discharge. Hence the new order of things did not 
bring peace and prosperity to the country. On the contrary, 
it brought the Liberals into sharp conflict with the Church 
party and the Conservatives, and for a long term of years the 
unhappy land was the scene of disorder and of petty revolu- 
tions. Settled government was impossible. Adventurers prof- 
ited by the unceasing strife of parties, and, as presidents or 
dictators, succeeded each other with astonishing rapidity. The 
man with the strongest following overcame his rivals and 
2i 



482 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

ruled until he was driven from power by some new aspirant 
for the honors and emoluments of office. 

Naturally the Liberal cause was weakened by this condition 
of affairs. As one adventurer followed another and constitu- 
tional government appeared to exist only in name, the Church 
party regained its ascendency. Seeing its opponents disorgan- 
ized and disunited, it secured the overthrow of the Republic 
by the assistance of Santa Anna, the most notorious of all the 
Mexican adventurers of this period. Without political prin- 
ciples or fixed party ties, he was always ready to unite with 
any cause that promised to be successful. So he did not now 
hesitate to ally himself with the Churchmen, although he had 
joined in the movement against Iturbide and had helped to 
establish the Republic in 1824. But, unscrupulous though he 
was, he was not without ability. The Churchmen found him 
a useful tool, and, having overcome opposition, they proclaimed 
a new Constitution on December 29, 1836. But as this was 
still too liberal for them, they issued a more conservative one 
on June 13, 1843. 

Thus the Liberals lost for a time the control of affairs, which 
they had kept imperfectly for about ten years. But the Church 
party did not long remain in power. The wealth and the aris- 
tocracy of the country were at its service, but it could not pre- 
vent the growth of liberal ideas. For, during the long period 
of anarchy and turbulence that succeeded the overthrow of 
Spanish tyranny, the nation was gradually gaining the power 
of self-government. For a long time, indeed, the gain was more 
apparent than real. The masses were ignorant; the priest- 
hood and the aristocracy resisted progress; the workings of 
constitutional government were but slightly understood. So 
revolution followed revolution, and it seemed as if it were 
impossible to establish the reign of order and law. But through 
those trying years of change and violence the country was pre- 
paring to break away from the intolerant rule of the priests 
and the aristocracy. That rule they set aside when Iturbide 
was overthrown in 1822 ; they set it aside again in 1847, only 
four years after the Conservatives had adopted their new Con- 
stitution and arranged matters entirely to their liking. But 
this was the burning period of foreign war and national humil- 
iation. The United States picked a quarrel with Mexico to 



CHAP. I MEXICO 483 

further an unjust cause, and wrested from the country two 
fifths of its territory (p. 409). Had the nation been strongly 
and efBciently governed, it might have made a more determined 
resistance to its invaders. As it was, the Mexican soldiers 
could do nothing but fight gallantly and suffer defeat. For 
in a war that lasted only sixteen months the administration 
changed hands several times ; so a vigorous and consistent war 
policy was rendered impossible. Thoroughly vanquished, the 
nation sadly submitted to the conditions imposed by its con- 
querors, and was once more given over to civil discord. 

And for some years there was no perceptible improvement 
in its condition. Fresh revolutions came, but, as formerly, 
they brought change without bringing progress. Sometimes, 
indeed, the course of events was backward. In 1853 Santa 
Anna came once more to the front, and, supported by the 
Church party, made himself master of the country and ruled 
in the interests of the priests and the aristocracy. But the 
Liberals drove him out of the country in 1855, and with their 
fresh accession to power began a new and more promising era. 
For federal government was again established ; a Liberal leader. 
General Alvarez, was made President, and under him a states- 
man of remarkable ability came forward to lead the nation. 
Benito Juarez, a full-blooded Indian of the Zapoteca tribe, was 
born March 21, 1806. He gained a knowledge of Spanish and 
the rudiments of education from a priest, who, finding the boy 
gifted with a remarkable mind, had him placed in an ecclesi- 
astical seminary and trained for the priesthood. But the 
youth preferred politics to the Church. He became a lawyer, 
attracted notice by his professional skill, and held various 
political offices. Upright, fearless, and unselfish, he became 
one of the ablest and most trusted leaders of the Liberal party. 
Alvarez, on being made provisional President, appointed him 
Secretary of Justice, and it was in this official position that 
he began his famous war upon the priesthood which ended in 
their complete political overthrow. His first step was to take 
from the clergy their political privileges, which entitled them 
to be tried for all offences in special courts composed of mem- 
bers of their own order, and thus to violate law without being 
brought to justice. For no priests were ever willing to tind a 
fellow-priest guilty. 



484 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

The law by which this privilege was abolished was issued 
on November 23, 1855, while Alvarez was still President. 
But on the 12th of the following December Alvarez was suc- 
ceeded by General Ignacio Comonfort, a remarkable man, who 
at first upheld Juarez in his war upon the Church. On June 2, 
1856, he issued a law which forbade corporations to hold land ; 
and, as the Church was the only corporation then existing in 
Mexico, it was obliged to sell its real estate. This law and 
that of Juarez were so unwelcome to the clergy that they 
fomented insurrections against the Government ; but these 
outbreaks Comonfort suppressed with a vigorous hand. He 
did not, however, long continue loyal to the Constitution he 
had helped establish. The Constitution was adopted on Feb- 
ruary 5, 1857, and in December of the same year Comonfort 
went over to the Church party and threw Juarez into prison. 
Soon realizing that he had made a serious error and had in- 
creased instead of quieting civil discord, he tried to remedy 
his mistake. He released Juarez and did his utmost to put 
down the rebellious Church party ; but his change of heart 
came too late. Baffled on every hand, he sailed from the 
country on February 7, 1858, and left Juarez to continue the 
struggle against the triumphant Churchmen. 

But the Churchmen did not long continue triumphant. 
On July 12 and 13, 1859, Juarez gained a decided advan- 
tage over them by confiscating the Church property and abol- 
ishing religious orders. True, the capital and most of the 
larger cities were in the hands of the Church party, and 
the Liberal forces, which were for a time outnumbered, at 
first suffered many defeats. But Juarez, single-minded in 
his devotion to liberal principles, did not for a moment lose 
heart. He made Vera Cruz his capital, established there a 
constitutional government, and finally succeeded in routing 
his opponents at the battle of Calpulalpan on December 22, 
1860. Though civil war was still continued, Juarez was now 
strong enough to order a general election ; and in March, 1861, 
he was formally chosen President. But great difficulties faced 
him. The treasury was empty, and the Government, unable 
to meet its financial obligations, suspended the payment of 
interest to its foreign bondholders for two years. The foreign- 
ers residing in Mexico were also treated with indignity, and 



CHAP. I MEXICO 485 

the French, English, and Spanish Governments felt called 
upon to interfere in behalf of their subjects. Accordingly, 
Mexico was invaded by Spanish troops in December, 1861, and 
an army from France and a naval force from England soon 
arrived to enforce the demands of these powers. But England 
and Spain soon made satisfactory terms with Mexico and with- 
drew their forces ; France, misguided by Louis Napoleon's 
ambition, continued the struggle alone. Her well-disciplined 
troops proved too formidable for the poorly trained forces of 
Juarez. The City of Mexico fell into their hands in June, 
1863, and, through the machinations of Napoleon, Maximilian, 
Archduke of Austria, was proclaimed Emperor. 

But Juarez did not give up the struggle. Undaunted by the 
triumph of the imperialist cause, he maintained a republican 
government in the northern part of the country, encouraged 
the Mexicans to cling fast to their independence, and, though 
forced at one time to flee into Texas, did not abandon hope. 
And, even when his prospects were darkest, his triumph came. 
Released from the strain of civil war, the United States Gov- 
ernment urged Napoleon to withdraw his forces from Mexico. 
The French Emperor complied, and Maximilian, left to him- 
self, was unable to cope with Juarez. Captured by treachery, 
he was shot on June 19, 1867. Ever ready to face emergencies 
and assume responsibility, Juarez now usurped authority for 
a time, as his presidential term had expired ; but he was re- 
elected in August, 1867, and again in 1871, and in the few 
brief years that remained to him he endeavored to crush insur- 
rection, unite the country, and carry out reforms. But he died 
suddenly at Mexico on July 18, 1872. 

More than half a century had now passed since Mexico 
gained her independence in 1821, and settled peace and pros- 
perity had not yet visited the nation. Even so able a man as 
Juarez had not succeeded in ending civil dissension, for at the 
time of his death rebellion was still active. Yet the country 
had learned much in fifty years of turbulence and discord. 
It had shaken off the rule of the priesthood ; it was weary of 
revolutions, and eager for the unbroken reign of law and order. 
Though the people were not yet ready to govern themselves, 
they were ready to welcome the strong man, who, preserving 
the forms of constitutionalism, would make his rule thoroughly 



486 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book it 

respected and govern in the interests of the nation. And such 
a man appeared, to carry on the work which Juarez had begun 
but had not completed. For among the very men who resisted 
the authority of Juarez by armed force was Porfirio Diaz, who, 
from being an unsuccessful leader of insurrection, became the 
honored and undisputed head of the nation. Not that he 
came into power immediately after the death of Juarez. Lerdo 
de Tejada was elected President in August, 1872, and for a 
time Diaz submitted to his rule. But Lerdo, though an esti- 
mable man, could not keep the nation tranquil. Signs of dis- 
cord were soon apparent, and Diaz, acting not as an adventurer 
but as a patriot, once more drew the sword of rebellion. His 
first attack upon the Government was made in March, 1876. 
Before a year had passed he had made himself master of the 
country, having forced Lerdo to retire, and defeated Iglesias, 
who assumed the presidency after Lerdo's downfall. On 
February 18, 1877, Diaz was elected President of the Republic 
of Mexico. 

Born on September 15, 1830, he was now in the full vigor of 
his powers. By the force of circumstances he had led the life 
of an adventurer, for he had been engaged in many wars and 
revolutions, and had met with several hairbreadth escapes ; but 
he was not an adventurer at heart. Possessing the breadth 
of a statesman and the decision of a born leader of men, 
he now devoted all his energies to securing an era of tran- 
quillity and progress for his country. And his efforts were 
thoroughly successful. After holding his office for over three 
years and establishing order, he was succeeded by his friend, 
Manuel Gonzalez; for the Constitution did not then allow a 
President to be reelected. But this law was changed. Succes- 
sive reelections were made legal ; and Diaz, becoming President 
again in 1884, held the office uninterruptedly for four terms. 

It is impossible to recount in a brief space all the reforms 
that have been accomplished by this remarkable man. The 
law was made supreme throughout the land, and brigandage 
disappeared. The public service was made efficient and scru- 
pulously clean. Railroad building was encouraged by govern- 
ment subsidies, and the country now has more than forty 
railroads, and nearly seven thousand miles of track. The tele- 
graph and telephone systems have also received the attention of 



CHAP. 1 MEXICO 487 

the Government, which has controlled the rates and required 
efficient service. Educational progress has been slow, for 
ignorance and illiteracy were general ; but for a time the 
Government aided the municipalities in this work by a grant 
of $1,000,000 a year, and in July, 1896, it took the schools 
under its charge in order to secure commonness of aim and 
method. Many hospitals have been built, and the sanitary 
condition of the cities has been greatly improved by the con- 
struction of drains and sewers. 

As these changes have taken place, trade and commerce 
have grown active and the country has become prosperous. 
For its natural riches are great, and foreign capital began to 
flow into it when the rights of property were made secure. 
Many of the mines of Mexico are worked by English and 
American companies, and cotton mills and other factories are 
being erected both by native and foreign capitalists. Already 
the country would seem to have fulfilled the expectations 
expressed by one of its own citizens soon after Maximilian's 
downfall : '^ Within a brief period we shall hold our elections 
for the functionaries to be chosen by the people, and we shall 
then enter again into our constitutional existence, somewhat 
interrupted by the French intervention. Our policy will then 
be to enforce our laws, which will allow the free exercise of 
all religions and give no preference to any, which provide a 
perfect separation between Church and State; to establish a 
system of free schools which will educate the masses of our 
people, and make them productive and happy; to encourage 
the immigration of peaceable and laboring citizens of the 
United States, which will assist us in developing our resources; 
to invite the investment of the surplus capital of the United 
States in Mexican enterprises, and to look up to this privi- 
leged country as our eldest sister, affording us an example 
worthy of imitation." ^ 

Portions of Mexico which are particularly rich and have 
been well developed are among the richest and most productive 
spots in the world. If revolutionary disturbances can be pre- 
vented, there would seem to be no limit to Mexico's future 

1 The quotatiou is from a speech delivered by Senor Matias Romero at a 
banquet tendered him at New York on October 2, 1867. The speech is given 
in full in SeBor Romero's work, " Mexico and the United States." 



488 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

growth and development. And that revohitions will be pre- 
vented there is good reason to believe. For the country can- 
not forget that it has had a statesmanlike and progressive rule 
for nearly a generation. During that time it has had ample 
opportunity to learn that nothing makes a country so pros- 
perous as the unbroken reign of law and order. The Mexicans 
have been forced to see that the rule of Diaz fostered industry, 
promoted all manner of commercial enterprises, brought foreign 
capital into the country, and bound it to the great neighbor 
Republic by close and substantial ties. That these lessons of a 
prosperous era will be forgotten, it is hard to believe. Mexico 
may not for generations produce another statesman like Diaz, 
for Diaz is one of the great men of the nineteenth century. 
But if it accepts his administration as its standard of govern- 
ment, it cannot readily tolerate corrupt and inefficient rule. 

Mexico is a federative republic, consisting of twenty-seven 
States, two Territories and a Federal District. Each State has 
its own Constitution ; its own governor and legislature, popu- 
larly elected; and the right to manage its own local affairs. 
But these States are bound together into one body politic by 
a national Constitution, which provides for the three branches 
of government, the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. 
The President is chosen indirectly for four years by a special 
body of electors who are voted for by the people. There 
are two legislative Houses, the Senate and the House of Rep- 
resentatives ; the members of the former House are chosen 
for six years, and those of the latter for two. The suffrage 
belongs to all male adults of respectable character. There are 
three classes of federal courts ; the Supreme Court, the circuit 
courts, and the district courts. In its judicial system, as in 
many of its constitutional arrangements, Mexico imitates the 
United States ; but, in imitating, it has taken the form with- 
out the spirit. For Mexican legal processes are based upon 
the Roman Code, and differ radically from those of the United 
States or England. Trial by jury exists, but a majority ver- 
dict is sufficient for conviction or acquittal.^ 

1 Romero's " Mexico and the United States " contains an interesting chap- 
ter on Mexican courts and legal methods. The writer contends that the 
IVIexican judicial system convicts criminals and protects society better than 
that of the United States. 



CHAP. I MEXICO 489 

The prevailing religion is the Roman Catholic ; but there is no 
State Church, and entire freedom of worship is allowed. Edu- 
cation, is free and compulsory in nearly all the States ; but the 
law is not strictly enforced, and illiteracy is common. 

Mexico has an area of 767,005 square miles, and a population 
of about 13,000,000. 



CHAPTER II 

CENTRAL AMERICA 

Central America, which includes the territory lying be- 
tween the southern boundary of Mexico and the Isthmus of 
Panama, passed under the control of Spain early in the sixteenth 
century. In those days of conquest and adventure, rival 
Spanish commanders contended for supremacy in this wild 
and mountainous country, which became a veritable " dark 
and bloody ground." Por not only did many Spaniards perish 
in these conflicts, but hundreds of thousands of the Indians, 
who were put to slavery and treated with great cruelty, were 
ruthlessly sacrificed. But these petty wars of ambitious sol- 
diers were brought to an end by the Spanish Government, 
which, soon after Cortez' famous journey into Honduras in 
1525, constituted Central America and a portion of southern 
Mexico into the Captain-Generalship of Guatemala. Becom- 
ing thus one of the nine provinces into which the Spanish 
possessions in Central America were divided, Central America 
had an uneventful history for nearly three hundred years. It 
received little attention from Spain ; its resources were not 
developed ; and so scant was its population, apart from the 
native Indians, that no body of soldiery was maintained within 
its borders. 

Accordingly, the resident Spanish officials were ill prepared 
to resist the revolutionary movement, which, inaugurated both 
in Mexico and in South America in 1810, spread in time 
into the intervening province of Guatemala. Though the 
struggle for independence was elsewhere long and desper- 
ate, in Guatemala the revolution was effected without blood- 
shed. Not until the rebellion to the north and south of them 
seemed sure to succeed, did the people of Central America 
declare against the Spanish Government; and accordingly, 

490 



CENTRAL AMERICA 491 



when they took the step, the Captain-General and his followers 
had no course open to them but flight. 

But, though relieved from the rule of Spain, Central America 
did not at once obtain a free and separate existence. Annexed 
by Mexico in spite of the emphatic protests of nearly all the 
provinces, it made a portion of Iturbide's unstable and short- 
lived empire. But when Mexico became a republic in 1823, 
the Central American provinces, with the exception of the 
district of Chiapas (which still forms the southernmost prov- 
ince of Mexico), succeeded in establishing their independence. 
Driving out the Mexican officials, the provinces attempted 
to set up their own government. But this task they found 
arduous and perplexing. The province of Guatemala, as con- 
stituted by Spain, had been divided into several intendancies, 
but these intendancies, now that they had acquired their inde- 
pendence, were not disposed to become sovereign states. As 
they had formerly been under the rule of one captain-general, 
they felt that they should now properly belong to one federa- 
tion, and thus attain to national power and dignity. Moreover, 
they had the example of the United States to inspire them 
with the desire of forming one united country. But federa- 
tion, as a means of combining separate states into a nation, 
was still an experiment. Even in the case of the American 
Union the result of the experiment was still uncertain, and in 
Central America there existed even greater obstacles to the 
success of a federative movement. The intendancies were sepa- 
rated by high mountains and dense forests ; they bordered upon 
two different oceans; and their people were for the most part un- 
educated and excitable, and easily swayed by savage emotions. 

In spite of these adverse conditions, the feeling in behalf of 
union was strong and widespread. There existed two political 
parties in Central America, the Liberals and the Serviles, and 
the members of the former were ardently in favor of uniting 
all Central America into one republic. The Liberals were 
the party of the people ; they were alert, active, and, consider- 
ing how few of them were well educated, remarkably broad 
and progressive. Could they have labored under more favor- 
able circumstances, they might have established an enlightened 
and enduring nation. Certainly their efforts in this direction 
are worthy of all praise, and their struggles, even though hope- 



492 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

less from the first, deserve more sympathy and consideration 
than is usually given them by the student of political history. 
Espousing the cause of republicanism when they had almost 
everything against them, the Liberals of Central America 
fought, suffered, and died for their country, kept the Federa- 
tion alive when it seemed to have hopelessly perished, and 
remained true to their political ideals amid persecution, danger, 
and exile. Even in failing they yet succeeded, for they showed 
that there must be a future for a country which developed men 
of such sterling and unquenchable patriotism. 

Owing to the unhappy political condition of the Central 
American peoples, the Liberals, as has been already suggested, 
encountered enough to make them fail ; but the greatest 
obstacle to their success lay in the character of their political 
opponents. For the Serviles were as unscrupulous as they 
were bigoted and narrow. Representing the aristocracy and 
the priesthood, clinging fast to wealth and'privilege and bitterly 
opposed to the rule of the majority, these men were determined 
to defeat the republican movement by any means, fair or foul. 
Accordingly, they used bribery, intrigue, and broken faith in 
the political arena, and on the field of battle they were treach- 
erous and cruel. That the Liberals themselves were always lib- 
eral, clean-handed, and merciful can by no means be asserted ; 
but in the long conflicts between the friends and the enemies of 
the Federation it was the Serviles who were guilty of the worst 
atrocities and violations of faith. ^ 

It was not under promising auspices, therefore, that a single 
sovereign state was formed out of the different intendancies in 
1823. The new state was designated the Republic of Central 
America, and Guatemala, the chief city of the intendancy of 
Guatemala, was selected as its capital. The Constituent As- 
sembly, which founded the Republic, adopted, after a long 
debate and fierce opposition from the Serviles, an extremely 
liberal Constitution, by which the right of habeas corpus, the 
liberty of the press, representative government, and the aboli- 
tion of slavery were secured. This Constitution, first published 
on December 27, 1823, was decreed on November 22, 1824 ; 
and, in accordance with its provisions, the Representatives of 
the new Republic assembled at Guatemala for the first time on 
1 Squier's " Nicaragua," II. 389 et seq. 



CENTRAL AMERICA 493 



February 6, 1825. They were thirty-four in number, of whom 
Guatemala sent seventeen, Salvador nine, Honduras six, 
Nicaragua six, and Costa Rica two. A little later a Federal 
Senate, consisting of two members from each State, also met in 
the capital. General Arce, a soldier of some distinction, was 
elected President, and in the following April was formally 
placed in office. 

For a short time the path of the Republic was fairly smooth ; 
and under its enlightened policy some progress was made in 
education, trade, and commerce. But the intrigues of the 
Sefviles soon brought this era of prosperity to an end. Mak- 
ing Guatemala the centre of their machinations, these unscrupu- 
lous plotters sowed dissension throughout the entire country, 
and brought on a long and sangviinary struggle between the 
two great parties, which only ended with the collapse of the 
Republic. For, finding that the very existence of the Federa-. 
tion was imperilled, the Liberals rallied to its defence, and 
under the lead of Francisco Morazan they were for some years 
successful in holding the Serviles in check. This devoted 
Republican, who was born in Honduras in 1799, showed rare 
ability both as a general and as a statesman, and was for a 
number of years the most conspicuous figure in Central Amer- 
ica.^ His career was full of adventures and vicissitudes. He 
first took the field in 1827, when the forces of Guatemala, 
which was usurping the powers of the Federal Government in 
a thoroughly unconstitutional manner, marched against Hon- 
duras. Taken prisoner in this campaign, he succeeded in 
making his escape, and for thirteen years he prosecuted a 
vigorous and unrelenting warfare against the enemies of the 
Republic. And, although he had to contend with cruel and 
barbarous foes who had no regard for the laws of civilized 
warfare, he always restrained his men from outrages so far as 
he could, and made them respect life and property. For a 
time he was eminently successful in his efforts to uphold the 
Federation ; and in 1834 he was so far master of the situation 
that he made the city of San Salvador, in the State of Salva- 
dor, the capital of the Republic, in place of Guatemala, which 
had become a nest of disloyalty. 

^ In Stephens's "Incidents of Travel in Central America" maybe found 
an interesting description of Morazan's character and appearance, Vol. 11. 
Chs. v., VI. 



494 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

But Morazan's enemies were too numerous and too adroit to 
be kept in subjection. As time passed, the cause of the Re- 
public became hopeless; for dissension appeared even in the 
ranks of the Liberals, and it became apparent that the devoted 
and consistent friends of the Federation were too few in number 
to preserve it. To thwart and overcome Morazan, appeared Car- 
rera, a man of Indian and negro parentage, coarse, brutal, igno- 
rant, and vicious, but audacious, shrewd, and cunning. Soon after 
Morazan first took the field, Carrera opposed him vigorously ; 
but for some time he proved rather a bitter and determined, 
than a formidable, antagonist. After a time, however, Carrera's 
power seemed to increase even as that of Morazan declined. 
Carrera had indeed all the advantages that belong to a man 
without conscience and without honor. He circulated false 
stories about his enemies ; he wrought upon the suyjerstition 
of the people and the Indian natives ; and in a country where 
ignorance was general and unreasoning, fear was easily excited. 
These unscrupulous methods were a powerful weapon in his 
hands. By the year 1838 Morazan and the Liberals were 
practically defeated, and the Republic was seen to be a failure. 
For two years longer, however, Morazan kept up the struggle ; 
and even after he was obliged to retire to Peru in 1840 with a 
few chosen followers, he did not give up hope. Gathering 
a force about him there, he invaded Costa Rica in 1842 and 
planned to reestablish the federal authority all over Central 
America. But he fell into the hands of the opposing forces 
and was shot. 

When the Republic collapsed, in 1838, the five States of 
Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica be- 
came separate and independent. But not all of these States 
had abandoned the hope of federation. The three central ones, 
Honduras, Salvador, and Nicaragua, hoped to bring about a neAv 
federal union, and to this end they called a national conven- 
tion in 1842. To this call Costa Rica made no response, and 
the new Republic that was formed out of the remaining four 
States had hardly more than a nominal existence. It collapsed 
entirely in 1847, and from that time Guatemala as well as Costa 
Rica declined all overtures to establish a new confederation. 

But the other three States, Honduras, Salvador, and 
Nicaragua, even in the face of these continued discourage- 



CHAP. 11 CENTRAL AMERICA 495 

ments, still continued loyal to the federal idea. They accord- 
ingly organized a third federation — Honduras, which had long 
been the centre of Federalist activity, assuming the leadership 
and dictating the policy of this new union of states. But 
Honduras did not have far-seeing men at its head, and com- 
mitted the wretched blunder of trying to force the other States 
into the federation. To this end it made war on Guatemala 
with the assistance of Salvador and Nicaragua. Such a war, 
however, did not have the dignity which belonged to the 
struggles of Morazan; for it was plainly foredoomed to fail- 
ure. What that able and high-minded patriot had failed to 
accomplish in the days of the first Republic, certainly could 
not be accomplished now, when the cause of federal unity had 
so frequently suffered shipwreck. Hence the war brought on 
by Honduras developed into one of those petty and factional 
strifes which are so thoroughly characteristic of Spanish- 
American politics.^ Salvador and Nicaragua soon wearied 
of it, and left Honduras to carry on the struggle alone. Even 
with its allies Honduras had hardly been able to hold its own ; 
without them it was entirely overmatched. Guatemala came 
out triumphant, and the triumph of Guatemala meant the tri- 
umph of Carrera and all that he represented. Firmly seated 
in power, this bigoted and intolerant man played into the 
hands of the Church party and raised a barrier to progress all 
over Central America. In Guatemala he trampled free insti- 
tutions under foot and made himself dictator. Always inter- 
fering in the affairs of the other Central American States, he 
thwarted a new plan for a confederation in 1862 ; and in 1863 
he waged war on Salvador, not liking the liberal and pro- 
gressive administration of its President, Gerado Barrios. In 
this war, though at first defeated, he was in the end success- 
ful, and thus won for the cause of absolutism a further tri- 
umph. His death occurred two years later, on April 14, 1865. 
For some time after this the federative movement lan- 
guished. Its friends had been discouraged by its repeated 

1 Even Morazan's high character and lofty purpose could not wholly 
redeem the conflicts he engaged in from a personal and partisan character. 
Stephens relates that his soldiers, after a victory, "marched into the plaza, 
stacked their arms, and shouted ' Viva Morazan ! ' In the morning the shout 
was ' Viva Carrera ! ' None cried ' Viva la Patria ! ' " — " Incidents of Travel," 
II. 85. 



496 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

failures, and they abandoned their efforts in its behalf. But 
shortly after Carrera's death there appeared in Guatemala a 
man who was destined to play a- conspicuous part in Central 
American politics, and who nearly succeeded in effecting that 
union of the States which had so long been the dream of the 
Federalist party. Justo Rufino Barrios was born in Guate- 
mala on July 17, 1835, of mixed Spanish and Indian blood. 
Possessing strong liberal sympathies, he thoroughly disap- 
proved of the despotic regime which Carrera had established ; 
and in 1867 he took part in a revolutionary movement which 
was designed to free Guatemala from its tyrannical govern- 
ment. At first winning some small successes and again suffer- 
ing defeat, he gradually gained in power and reputation ; and 
in 1871 he was able to enter the capital of Guatemala and to 
terminate the reign of absolutism and bigotry which had been 
established there by Carrera thirty years before. Elevated 
soon after this to the presidency, he attracted the attention 
of all Central America by his energy, ability, and courage. 
Insurrections against his government broke out repeatedly in 
Guatemala, and he was sometimes obliged to contend also with 
the neighboring States of Honduras and Salvador, which, 
headed by reactionary rulers, were opposed to his liberal and 
progressive rule. But Barrios maintained himself against all 
his enemies, outlived the attempts of assassins upon his life, 
and devoted himself to the cause of reform and good govern- 
ment with tireless energy. He freed the press, built railways, 
reorganized the telegraph and postal systems, improved the 
roads and bridges, and did much for education both in colleges 
and schools. In his capital, Guatemala, he took especial inter- 
est, and through his efforts it became a clean, healthy, well- 
policed and well-administered city. He also perfected the 
military organization of the country, and maintained a dis- 
ciplined and efficient army, knowing that every Central Ameri- 
can ruler must always be ready for an appeal to force. But 
perhaps the greatest service that he rendered his country was 
that of ridding it of the tyranny of the Church. " Regardless 
of priestly malediction and protesting bishops, he suppressed 
monasteries and nunneries ; he banished dangerous religious 
orders ; he made a sweeping sequestration of Church estates ; 
he turned the right royal residences of the clerical dignitaries 



CENTRAL AMERICA 497 



into schools, which he liberally endowed with Church incomes. 
. . . The great convent of San Domingo, almost a town in 
itself, with a splendid surrounding estate, was converted into 
a university." ^ But unfortunately the man who so greatly 
improved the condition of Guatemala was not clean-handed 
and was sometimes cruel.^ At the head of a nominal republic, 
he was really as absolute a ruler as Carrera himself, though he 
used his power for good government, while Carrera was the 
enemy of progress. Only, indeed, by harsh measures and by 
prompt and summary action could he have maintained himself 
in power. 

Accordingly, having confirmed himself in the ways and 
usages of a dictator. Barrios approached the question of fed- 
eral unity in a thoroughly characteristic manner. He wished 
to see all the Central American States brought under one gov- 
ernment, but of that government he himself would be the head. 
In other words, he proposed that Guatemala should annex the 
other four so-called Republics. But it could not be assumed 
that this scheme was the offspring of a merely selfish ambition. 
Undoubtedly Barrios wished to exteud all over Central America 
the enlightened and progressive rule he had given to Guate- 
mala; and he well knew that the personal supremacy of a 
single strong administrator could alone secure this end. Ob- 
servant of the world around him, he had seen how Diaz had 
established his sway in the neighboring State to the north ; 
and he was convinced that political conditions were alike in 
Mexico and in Central America. Accordingly, he aimed to 
accomplish a similar work to that of Diaz and to accomplish 
it in a similar way. Not, however, that he wished to bring 
about the union by military conquest. On the contrary, he 
strove primarily to secure the willing cooperation of the other 
Republics and to gain the desired end solely through diplomacy 
and negotiation. And in this effort he seemed at first to be 
successful. It was in 1884 that he gave his attention to the 
scheme of unity, and he found his own ministers and President 
Zalvidar of Salvador and President Bogran of Honduras appar- 

1 " Guatemala," by O. J. Victor, in Harper's Magazine, 71: 900. 

2 From the charge of wanton and unparalleled cruelty which has some- 
times been brought against him, he must be acquitted. Littell's Living Age, 
170 : 283 ; the Nation, 62 : 176. 

2k 



498 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

ently in entire sympathy with his plan. Accordingly, as every- 
thing seemed ready for the realization of his project, he publicly 
proclaimed his intention of establishing unity on February 28, 
1885 ; and on March 6 he showed in a further proclamation 
how the proposed union should be brought about. 

The prospect of national unity was greeted with approval 
by the Federalists all over Central America, and at first it 
seemed as if the movement would meet with no serious oppo- 
sition. Nicaragua and Costa Rica stood too much in awe of 
Barrios to object to it; and Honduras gave it a hearty support. 
But it soon appeared that President Zalvidar of Salvador had 
been playing a treacherous part. Openly a friend of the national 
project, he was at heart opposed to it ; and he had been secretly 
negotiating with Mexico to secure its defeat. Fancying that 
the Mexican Government was behind him, he now ventured 
to send an army to attack Barrios in Guatemala. But Mexico 
gave him no support ; his troops were rapidly overpowered by 
Barrios; and the union seemed likely to be effected without 
further opposition. But on April 2, at the very moment of 
success. Barrios himself was killed by the bullet of a sharp- 
shooter, while entering a hostile village at the head of his 
troops. 

Thus perished the one man in Central America who was able 
to unite its petty States anew under one strong rule. He had 
not the elevated character, the personal integrity, and the 
aversion to harsh and cruel measures of President Diaz ; but 
that he woiild have governed Central America with justice, 
ability, and statesmanlike breadth there can be no reasonable 
doubt. But whether he would have laid the foundations of 
a new nation is quite a different question. Even in Mexico 
anarchy and revolution may be the order of things when the 
strong and beneficent rule of the last quarter of a century has 
come to an end ; though the world confidently expects a better 
result. And in Central America, where jealousies and petty 
warfares have reigned for three quarters of a century, and 
where revolutions are still an everyday occurrence, the diffi- 
culties in the way of national unity are even greater than they 
are in the Mexican Republic. Yet, even so, the death of Barrios 
was a public calamity, and was the occasion of deep and genuine 
sorrow throughout all the Central American Republics. 



CHAP. II CENTRAL AMERICA 499 

But the end which he failed to accomplish was imperfectly 
realized ten years after his death. On June 28, 1895, the three 
States of Central America which had always been most loyal 
to the federative idea, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador, con- 
stituted themselves the Greater Republic of Central America. 
Guatemala and Costa Rica held entirely aloof from the Con- 
federation for a time ; but on June 15, 1897, they proposed to 
join it, and a treaty was agreed upon by all five Republics as a 
basis of union. But this treaty was never ratified, and Gua- 
temala and Costa Rica, accordingly, never became actual 
members of the Greater Republic. 

As originally constituted, the Confederation had but a 
precarious existence. It did not rest upon a Constitution, and 
the scheme of government provided for it was a very imperfect 
one. The Presidents of the different States took their turns 
in serving as President of the Greater Republic, and the only 
legislative body was a Council, of very limited powers, which 
consisted of two delegates from each State. But in 1898 the 
Confederation was put upon a better basis. For in the summer 
of that year delegates from its three members met at Managua 
in Nicaragua, framed a Constitution, and gave their union the 
name of the United States of Central America. The Consti- 
tution was not to be submitted to popular vote, but a commis- 
sion was appointed to exercise the functions of government for 
the time being, and to provide for the election of a President in 
the following December. It was expected that the President 
would be inaugurated in March, 1899. But before that time 
arrived, the Confederation collapsed. It was formally estab- 
lished on November 1, 1898, and for a brief period all went 
well. But about the middle of November one of the candi- 
dates for the presidency, a Salvadorean named Tomaso Rega- 
lado, seized upon the machinery of government and made the 
fulfilment of the federative scheme impossible. He did not 
aim to make himself the permanent head of the Confederation, 
for it did not accord with his plans to keep the Confederation 
alive. Rather was his action prompted by regard for the inter- 
ests of Salvador, which strongly objected to the financial 
arrangements authorized by the new Constitution. Accord- 
ingly, after gaining control of affairs, Senor Regalado issued a 
proclamation declaring that Salvador was no longer a member 



500 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

of the Confederation, but that it would join the union of Cen- 
tral American Kepublics whenever its own interests made such 
a course seem advisable. 

Such is the meagre result of three quarters of a century of 
endeavor after national unity. What will yet be accomplished 
in that direction it is useless to prophesy ; but the history of 
Central America ever since it was delivered from Spanish rule 
shows conclusively that the people of the country cannot exer- 
cise self-government as that word is properly understood. That 
they have made progress in education, industry, and commerce 
cannot be denied ; and assuredly they have the right to estab- 
lish any kind of rule that they find suited to themselves. 
They are certainly better off than they were under Spain's 
harsh dominion ; and even though they do not make law 
respected, government stable, and property secure, who shall 
say that their political education is making no headway at all ? 
But as yet they do not understand the meaning of free institu- 
tions or the responsibilities of citizenship. Fond of color, 
gayety, and brightness, loving the gorgeous processions and 
ceremonies of the Church better than the sober side of life, 
averse to serious thinking, living in the feelings and emotions, 
and delighting in fetes and in exciting sports, the Central 
American does not know how to cherish political ideals or to 
fight against political corruption. Hence, in his country it is 
the strong man rather than the majority that rules, and the 
character of the government always depends upon the charac- 
ter of the man who has grasped the reins of power. Almost 
invariably the Central American ruler is despotic; almost 
invariably does he surround himself with characters whose 
chief merit is their willingness to do his bidding ; but some- 
times he is not dishonest, and occasionally he is a man of lib- 
eral and progressive views. But his power he knows to be 
insecure, for it does not rest upon the suffrages of the people. 
It is by a revolution that he rises, and by a revolution that he 
may expect to fall. Therefore, the Central American Repub- 
lics will be Republics in name only until long years have 
changed the temper of the people, and many patriots like 
Morazan have taught their countrymen the value of liberty. 
And, all this being so, it goes without saying that the endeavor 
to establish national unity cannot well succeed. Weak states 



GUATEMALA 501 



cannot form a strong state ; the weakness of the units is sure 
to affect -the whole. If the individual republics are at the 
mercy of revolutions, the central republic must be subject to 
revolutions also; if each separate government is a one-man 
power, the one-man power must likewise control the central 
government. Hence, an alliance or contract easily dissolved is 
all that can for some time be expected from a confederation of 
the Central American Republics. 

The government of each one of these five states being thus 
shifting and unstable, it is hardly worth while to trace its his- 
tory since the first attempt at union failed in 1838. For the 
story would be an unprofitable record of constant changes and 
petty revolutions ; of intrigue, greed, selfishness, despotism, 
and cruelty, attended with some progress, some inevitable 
material growth, and on the whole a fair measure of prosperity. 
The larger and more important elements of the story have 
already been given in the account of the endeavor after unity ; 
the small and petty elements may well be ignored. Accord- 
ingly, each of the Republics will be considered separately only 
so far as is necessary to describe the form of government and 
to give such statistical records as may indicate the industrial 
possibilities of each country.^ 

Guatemala 

The largest of the five Republics is the one which the pre- 
ceding pages show to have had, on the whole, the greatest 
political importance, Guatemala, its area being 63,400 square 
miles, which is about that of all New England. It is also the 
most populous of them all, having 1,750,000 inhabitants. The 
Constitution gives the suffrage to all, and vests the govern- 
ment in a President elected by the people for six years, and a 
single Legislative Chamber, the members of which are elected 
for four years. Education is free and is supposed to be com- 
pulsory, but not more than from one third to one half of 
the children actually attend school. The poor roads of the 
country are as yet a great hindrance to the development of 

iFor a discussion of the resources, climate, soil, products, and industries 
of each Republic consult the United States Government's "Handbook of the 
American Republics " ; also W. E. Curtis on " Central America: Its Resources 
and Commerce," in the Forum for April and May, 1898. 



502 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

the country's resources, as mule paths are the ordinary means 
of communication, and as yet but few railroads have been con- 
structed. Yet, owing to the influence of Barrios, Guatemala 
has introduced more modern improvements than any other 
Central American State, and §ince his death the construction 
of public works has not been entirely abandoned. 

The soil of the country is exceedingly rich, and is capable 
of producing a great variety of products. Coffee, sugar, 
tobacco, and cereals of an admirable quality can be raised in 
almost unlimited quantities, while the timber forests are very 
valuable, as they are all over Central America. Altogether, 
the resources of Guatemala are so great that it probably 
could support ten times the population that it now con- 
tains. But its growth will not be rapid until it has acquired 
greater political stability, for of recent years it has been the 
scene of much restlessness and agitation. After the death of 
Justo Barrios in 1885, his nephew, Jose Maria Reina Barrios, 
became the leading figure in the State, and made himself 
head of the Government. But his rule was a stern one, and 
in suppressing rebellion with a merciless hand he made so 
many enemies that a price was publicly offered for his death. 
Consequently, he lived in constant dread of assassins, and was 
finally killed by one on February 8, 1898. But his death 
caused little change in the conduct of the- Government. 

Honduras 

Honduras is about two thirds as large as Guatemala, having 
an area of about 43,000 square miles, which is nearly the same 
as that of Virginia, but it has a population of less than 
500,000. It is, indeed, a very backward and unprogressive 
country, its inhabitants being peculiarly listless and indolent, 
even for Spanish Americans. Little attempt is made to 
develop the natural resources of the country ; yet Honduras 
has a wonderfully rich soil, considerable mineral wealth, excel- 
lent timber lands, navigable rivers, and fine harbors. It is 
nominally a Republic, being governed under a charter which 
was proclaimed in 1894, and which grants representative gov- 
ernment, religious freedom, and free and compulsory educa- 
tion. The executive power is vested in a President elected by 
the suffrages of the people, who is assisted by a Council of 



CHAP. II SALVADOR 503 

Ministers. There is one legislative body, to which one deputy 
is allowed for every thousand inhabitants. This system of 
government is actually in operation, and education is provided 
as the law directs. But the apathy of the people makes the 
free institutions of the country peculiarly unstable. The strong 
man could at any time easily overturn them. 

Salvador 

Quite a different country is the little Republic of Salvador. 
Although it contains but a little over 7000 square miles — 
about the size of New Jersey or Massachusetts — it has nearly 
a million inhabitants, and its people are characterized by 
industry, energy, and thrift. Only about 20,000 of them are 
white, and this oligarchy controls the Government and gives 
to the whole country its progressive character and its com- 
paratively advanced political condition. Salvador has indeed 
an admirable Constitution,^ proclaimed first in 1864 but modi- 
fied in 1880, 1883, and 1886, which vests the executive authority 
in a President elected for four years by the people, and the 
legislative in a National Assembly of Deputies chosen for 
every year by universal suffrage. Instruction is made com- 
pulsory, and all the rights which properly belong to the citi- 
zens of a free republic are guaranteed. But the provisions of 
the Constitution are summarily set aside by the ruling class, 
which so manipulates the elections as to keep the power firmly 
in its own hands. Although the Constitution declares against 
the conscription of soldiers, the Government does not hesi- 
tate to raise all the troops it needs, and to use them in an 
illegal and high-handed manner. Hence here, as nearly every- 
where in Spanish America, republican institutions exist rather 
in theory than in practice. The President is almost invariably 
an absolute ruler, and comes into power by a proclamation 
declaring his authority rather than by process of election. 

But the country is highly prosperous and its resources have 
been well developed. Its mines contain rich stores of silver, 
gold, iron, copper, and quicksilver ; its soil gives an abundant 
yield of coffee, sugar, indigo, tobacco, and various tropical 
products ; and its roads are in better condition than those of 

1 Consult the United States Government's publication on Salvador in the 
Bureau of American Republics. 



504 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

the other Central American countries. Unfortunately, however, 
its coast does not contain a single harbor, and it frequently 
suffers from violent earthquakes. 

Nicaragua 

Though containing 49,500 square miles of territory and 
equalling in area the State of New York, Nicaragua has a 
population of only half a million, and is making no gains in 
material prosperity. For its people are discouraged by the 
frequent political disturbances and are little disposed to accu- 
mulate what a usurping Government may suddenly snatch away. 
The closing years of the century have been especially disquiet- 
ing, for they have witnessed the attempts of a typical Spanish- 
American adventurer to make himself master of the country. 
General Santos Zelaya, aspiring to be President, established 
his authority by a proclamation setting aside the Constitution 
of 3 894, which vests the executive power in a President chosen 
for four years by the people and the legislative in a Congress of 
forty deputies elected for two years. Once in power. President 
Zelaya found himself the object of many conspiracies, and 
adopted such harsh and repressive measures as to make himself 
disliked all over .the country. That his career will be cut short 
by violence is highly probable, but it is equally probable that 
his successor will resort to similar methods of rule and will 
show the same disregard of the Constitution. And while such 
political unrest prevails, Nicaragua will continue to be unde- 
veloped, though its mines, its forests, its soil, and its fisheries 
contain inexhaustible riches. 

Costa Rica 

In this small country, which, containing about 39,000 square 
miles, is a little larger than Indiana and has a population of 
less than 300,000, republican institutions seem to have found a 
congenial home. Unlike her sister Republics, Costa Rica 
elects her rulers in the manner provided for by the Constitu- 
tion, and in other respects shows herself to be a quiet and law- 
abiding country. The Constitution, however, is not as demo- 
cratic as that of most Spanish-American States, as both the 
President, whose term of office is four years, and the Congress, 
whose members serve for four years, one half retiring every 



COSTA RICA 505 



two years, are chosen by an electoral assembly and not directly 
by the people. There are about 30 deputies and between 500 
and 600 electors. The President has considerable power, as 
he can appoint and remove at will the four members of his 
Cabinet ; but he cannot serve for two terms in succession. The 
Constitution provides for free primary education, and the chil- 
dren are obliged to attend school except in the thinly settled 
regions. Costa Rica has also an excellent judicial system, 
there being a Supreme Court of eleven justices elected by Con- 
gress for four years, a minor court in each province but that of 
San Jose, which has two, and criminal courts with subordinate 
judges called alcaldes throughout the country. In the other 
Central American Republics also a judicial system is provided 
for by the Constitution and has of necessity some degree of 
working efficiency. But it is needless to say that where despots 
govern, justice is often blind. It is to be noted that Roman 
Catholicism is recognized as the established religion of the 
State in Costa Rica ; but entire freedom of worship is granted 
to other creeds. 

Under its excellent government the population of the country 
is rapidly increasing, and already Costa Rica has developed a 
considerable foreign trade. Coffee, bananas, skins, hides, and 
hard woods are the chief articles of export; but the soil is 
capable of producing almost everything, and these exports are 
certain to grow in variety as well as in value, as the country 
becomes more thickly settled. Not very many miles of rail- 
ways have yet been constructed, but the lines are well arranged 
for giving the great productive regions an outlet upon the 
Atlantic and Pacific coasts. 

It may be remembered that Costa Rica was the first State to 
recognize the futility of the federative experiment (p. 494) and 
to devote itself quietly and peaceably to the management of 
its own affairs. Ever since that time it has been inclined to 
let its neighbors alone and to expend its energies in establish- 
ing the reign of justice, law, and prosperity Avithin its own 
borders. So well has it succeeded in these efforts, that its career 
may be viewed as an example for all Spanish-American coun- 
tries, and as a promise that all Central America, which is one 
of the richest and fairest regions of the globe, will some day 
be one of the most prosperous. 



CHAPTER III 

SOUTH AMERICA 

The opening years of the nineteenth century found Spain 
in possession of a great portion of South America. Brazil 
belonged to Portugal ; the British, Dutch, and French had 
divided Guiana between them ; and Patagonia, though really a 
part of the Spanish viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres, was aban- 
doned to tribes of wandering Indians ; but over all the rest of 
the South American continent Spain exercised her galling and 
tyrannical rule. For the people of this vast region fared no 
better than the inhabitants of other Spanish Colonies. They 
were badly used by the Spanish governors, persecuted by the 
Inquisition, and continually forced to sacritice their own inter- 
ests to those of the mother-country. Their commerce was 
crippled by exasperating restrictions ; they were forbidden to 
raise articles which might compete with the products of Spain 
in the home markets.^ But the people of South America did 
not remain tamely submissive under this petty tyranny. It 
was the Indians who first sought to redress their wrongs by 
arms, for they were treated with intolerable cruelty; and 

1 It has become one of the accepted traditions of history that Spain's treat- 
ment of her Colonies was extremely harsh and cruel ; but only a detailed 
statement of the atrocities practised could g.ive an idea of what the colonists 
suffered. The brief and general account given in the text above, far from 
being exaggerated, falls greatly short of the truth. Throughout Spanish 
America the prisons were veritable infernos. For a full description of Spain's 
infamous colonial policy consult Captain Basil Hall's " South America," Vol. 
I. Ch. VII. 

Even as temperate and careful a writer as Professor Bernard Moses says 
of this same policy: "The trade restrictions which were imposed upon the 
Colonies, instead of permitting them to start with the advantages of the 
achievements of European civilization, in many cases drove them back to 
the barbarism of the aborigines, and doomed them to go over again the pain- 
ful way up to civilization which their ancestors had trod in Europe." — " The 
Establishment of Spanish Rule in America," p. 286. 

606 



SOUTH AMERICA 507 



under Tupac Amaru II., called the Last of the Incas, they 
made a formidable attack upon the Spanish power in 1780. 
But owing to a lack of arms and discipline they were thor- 
oughly defeated, and their leader was put to a cruel death in 
the following year.^ Soon, however, came the victorious end- 
ing of the American Revolution and the bloody overthrow of 
monarchy in France. Encouraged by these events, the discon- 
tented South American peoples cherished the hope of winning 
their independence, and bided their time. Their opportunity 
seemed to come when Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808 ; for the 
entire energies of the Spanish nation became absorbed in its 
long and desperate struggle with the armies of France. Accord- 
ingly, on April 19, 1810, some months earlier than the first 
attack in Mexico (p. 479), a handful of Venezuelan patriots, 
among whom was Simon Bolivar, instigated an uprising at 
Caracas. The movement was successful, and the rebellion 
became more formidable with each new victory. Venezuela 
was soon freed temporarily from Spanish rule and in 1811 was 
declared to be a Republic. Meanwhile, the first sparks of 
insurrection had been kindling a mighty conflagration, and by 
this time nearly all of Spain's South American Colonies were 
in a state of revolt. The provinces that are now comprised by 
the countries of Peru, Chili, and Bolivia, and the city of 
Buenos Ayres, all became the scenes of uprisings against the 
dominion of Spain. Buenos Ayres had in 1776 been declared 
the capital of a viceroyalty comprising the provinces of Rio 
de la Plata, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia, and it now 
became the centre of a persistent and successful movement for 
independence. As early as 1810 a provisional Government of 
the provinces of the Rio de la Plata was formed, and allegiance 
to Spain made thereby only nominal ; and on January 31, 
1813, a Congress was assembled at Buenos Ayres, which thus 
became the seat of a national Government. This Government 
Spain never succeeded in overthrowing; and in 1816 the formal 
separation from the mother-country was decreed, and the 
Argentine Republic came into being, though not with its 
present boundaries. From this time on the Republic was not 
called upon to expel the Spanish armies from its own territory; 

1 An interesting sketch of this rebellion may be found in Markham's " His- 
tory of Peru," Ch. VIII. 



508 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

but it rendered aid to the other Colonies that were struggling 
for independence. 

And this struggle was a long and sangu.inary one, in the 
course of which the cause of the patriots more than once 
seemed hopeless. For at Buenos Ayres alone was the revolu- 
tion at once successful. In other places the insurrectionary 
movement was crushed, for a time even Venezuela, with Boli- 
var as its leader, being unable to hold its own. For fresh 
troops were sent into that province in 1812, and in the same 
year the patriots were discouraged by the tremendous earth- 
quake which shook Caracas to the ground and destroyed the 
lives of more than ten thousand people. Viewing this con- 
vulsion of nature as sent by an offended Deity to rebuke their 
rebellious spirit, the superstitious people of Venezuela lost 
their interest in the revolution, and made so feeble a stand 
against the Spanish forces that Bolivar was driven from the 
province in 1812. 

Passing into the adjoining province of New Granada, he 
continued the struggle with varying fortunes, in 1814 receiving 
so disastrous a defeat that it seemed doubtful whether he 
could ever rally another army. Even his courage almost failed 
at this crisis, and in 1815 he sought refuge in Jamaica. But 
he soon reappeared, and renewed the conflict with such vigor 
that the Spanish power, undermined by the persistency and 
the widespread area of the rebellion, began to give way. 
Defeated in one province, Bolivar passed into another, always 
finding some region in which the fire of rebellion had not been 
quenched. In the northern provinces the patriots suffered 
many reverses before they won any decisive victories. But 
Chili was finally freed from Spain by the battle of Maipo, 
fought April 5, 1818, and on August 7 of the following year 
Bolivar freed New Granada by the great victory of Boyaca. 
In Venezuela the Spanish general, Murillo, offered a very 
stubborn resistance to the patriot forces, but his army was at 
last almost annihilated in the battle of Carabobo, which took 
place on June 24, 1821. So complete was this victory that it 
enabled the people of Venezuela to set up a Republic on the 
ruins of the Spanish regime. 

Quito (now Ecuador) and Peru were the only countries still 
in the possession of Spain, and Bolivar determined to com- 



CHAP. Ill SOUTH AMERICA 509 

plete the work of liberation by effecting their deliverance. 
Marching first into the province of Quito, he defeated the 
Spaniards in the important battle of Pichincha on May 24, 
1822, which enabled him to enter the city of Quito without 
opposition, and on December 9, 1824, he brought the long 
struggle practically to an end by the great victory won at 
Ayacucho in Peru.. About a year later the Spaniards gave up 
their last stronghold in South America, though they did not 
formally recognize the independence of the country till 1845. 

Bolivar was undoubtedly the central figure in this long 
revolutionary contest, and he was not inaptly termed "The 
Liberator," by his countrymen. Showing rare self-denial in 
his efforts to free his country, he sacrificed his vast fortune 
in prosecuting the war, suffered the hardships and privations 
of the commonest soldier, faced overwhelming odds unflinch- 
ingly, and inspired enthusiasm and devotion by his unfailing 
personal charm. Yet, great as was the service he rendered to 
the work of liberation, he might possibly have failed but for 
the assistance of three other i:)atriots whose merits have sel- 
dom received adequate recognition. A brief account of what 
each of them accomplished is therefore appropriate. 

Jose Antonio Paez ^ saved the revolutionary movement in 
Venezuela from utter defeat by his heroism and daring. Ac- 
customed to the wild life of the herdsman, inured to hardship, 
without an equal in hoi'semanship and in all exercises requir- 
ing bodily strength and skill, Paez had an unbounded influ- 
ence over the rough llaneros of the plains. These men, whose 
weapon was the deadly lance, he trained into a marvellously 
efficient body of cavalry, and with them he accomplished feats 
which make those of mediaeval knights seem tame.^ When 
the armies of the patriots were routed and the war seemed at 
an end, Paez continued the struggle with his llaneros and 
made his name a terror to the enemy by his wild and amazing 

1 Not very much has heen written about this gallant revolutionary hero, 
but a graphic picture of his achievements may be found in a work by his son, 
Don Ramon Paez, entitled "Wild Scenes in South America," Chs. XXII. and 
XXIII. ; and Paez has himself recorded the story of his life iu an autobiog- 
raphy, published in New York in 1867, and appreciatively reviewed in the 
Nation, 6: 291. 

2 His most astonishing achievement was that of capturing some Spanish 
gunboats in the river with a small band of men who swam with their horses 
into the stream, climbed into the boats, and overpjwered their crews. 



510 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

exploits. Nothing seemed too hazardous for him to attempt, 
and some of the more important victories were achieved by 
his reckless bravery and ingenious stratagems. In the great 
and decisive battle of Carabobo it was a charge by Paez and 
his horsemen that carried the day. But, modest as he was 
brave, Paez, even after his most astonishing successes, always 
stood ready to acknowledge Bolivar's superiority. By no dis- 
play of jealousy or petty-mindedness did he ever injure or 
imperil the patriot cause. 

Services of quite a different character did Antonio Jose de 
Sucre render to the revolutionary movement. Educated as a 
military engineer, General Sucre showed such rare organizing 
power that Bolivar termed him " the soul of the army " and 
his campaigns were conducted with ability and success. On 
the battle-field he was of great service to Bolivar, who was not 
always cool and clear-headed during an engagement.^ The 
decisive battles of Pichincha and Ayacucho, as well as some 
that are less famous, were won by Sucre's generalship and 
courage. Unforturfately, his political career was cut short 
when he was only thirty-seven years old, as his political ene- 
mies had him shot from an ambush in 1830. 

Less famous even than Paez is Jose de San Martin, though 
his achievements rivalled even those of Bolivar himself. Born 
at Yapeyii, in the viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres, in 1778, he 
was taken to Spain at the age of eight and was there educated 
as a soldier. After serving for nearly twenty years in the 
Spanish army, he returned to Buenos Ayres in 1810 to engage 
in the war for independence. Soon gaining distinction by his 
military ability and receiving an important command, he yet 
retired from the army in 1814, for he had conceived a large 
project which could only be executed after long and careful 
preparations. His plan was nothing less than to march an 
army across the Andes and break the Spanish power on the 
Pacific coast. Impracticable as this scheme seemed to be, it 
was yet carried out in 1817. San Martin organized a force that 
was termed the "army of the Andes," succeeded, by extraor- 

1 Bolivar has sometimes been pronounced destitute of military ability ; but 
San Martin thought highly of his generalship, and Sucre came near losing 
the battle of Ayacucho tliruugli disregarding Bolivar's warning against sca+- 
tering his forces. Filling's " Emancipation of South America," pp. 407, 454.. 



CHAP. Ill SOUTH AMERICA 511 

dinary exertions, in leading it across the Andes into Chili, 
and won a signal victory over the Spaniards at Chacabuco on 
February 12. The still more decisive battle of Maipo, fought 
on April 5 of the following year, delivered all Chili into his 
hands and left him free to attempt the conquest of Peru. 
Landing in that province in September through the assistance 
of Admiral Cochrane's fleet, he carried everything before him ; 
and on July 12, 1821, he was able to make a triumphal entry 
into Lima. By these successes he had made himself as con- 
spicuous in the southern theatre of the war as Bolivar had 
been in the northern provinces, and he expected to share 
equally with that eminent patriot the glory of bringing the 
struggle for liberty to a speedy and successful conclusion. 
But in this hope he was bitterly disappointed. Meeting Boli- 
var for the first time at Guayaquil on July 25, 1822, San 
Martin found that the Liberator would brook no rival. Ac- 
cordingly, unwilling to create dissension and antagonisms, he 
withdrew from the scene of action, and, soon resigning his 
command, set out for Europe. Unquestionably the war was 
prolonged because Bolivar's vanity prevented him from secur- 
ing this gifted patriot's cooperation. 

But it was not to her own sons only that South America 
owed her independence. As the Greeks in their nearly con- 
temporary struggle for liberty were greatly helped by Lord 
Byron and other Hellenists, so did the people of South Amer- 
ica receive valuable aid from Lord Cochrane and from a valiant 
band of British volunteers. Thomas Cochrane, tenth Earl of 
Dundonald, was born on December 14, 1775. Although he was 
an able and gallant seaman and distinguished himself in Great 
Britain's service, his impulsive and uncompromising character 
finally caused him to be unjustly sentenced to fine and impris- 
onment, and to be deprived of his command in the British navy. 
Thus becoming a free lance, but always preserving a high sense 
of honor and never lending himself to an ignoble cause, he now 
listened to overtures from the newly established government of 
Chili and undertook to command and organize its navy. Arriv- 
ing at Valparaiso on November 29, 1818, he put life and spirit 
into the struggling patriots by his boundless energy. It was 
through Lord Cochrane's successes and vigorous exertions that 
San Martin was able to invade Peru ; and for four years he did 



512 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

sterling service to the patriot cause. But he never got on well 
with San Martin/ and he finally threw up his commission in 
disgust, being satisfied that he could never obtain due recogni- 
tion and support from a government that Avas already torn with 
political dissension and rendered inefficient by ministerial cor- 
ruption. More fortunate in winning merited praise were the 
British and Irish volunteers, who fought side by side with the 
patriots on the fields of Venezuela and showed heroic valor in 
the bloody battle of Carabobo. Two thirds of their number 
were killed or wounded in that engagement, and when the sur- 
vivors passed before Bolivar, he greeted them with the generous 
words, " Saviours of my country ! " "- 

The war for independence having been brought to a suc- 
cessful termination, the countries thus set free from Spanish 
rule had to choose and establish their forms of government. 
As the war had been a war of liberation, to some extent 
inspired by the example of the United States, it was natural 
that republican principles should now be held throughout 
Spanish America and that the people should everywhere 
expect to rule. Even during the war these tendencies were 
manifest, and as fast as the Spanish viceroys were driven 
out of various provinces. Congresses were convened to pro- 
vide for the conduct of affairs. But throughout the northern 
provinces the success of the patriots was for some years too 
transitory and the fortunes of war too shifting to allow any 
organized government a sure and permanent foundation ; and 
the exigencies of the time seemed to render a dictatorial power 
inevitable. Accordingly, Bolivar was intrusted with supreme 
authority, and as the revolution gained new victories, the area 
of his rule increased. First of all Venezuela gave him entire 
control of civil and military affairs when he entered Caracas at 
the head of a liberating army in 1813 ; and in the following 
year New Granada, which had declared itself to be a Republic, 
appointed him commander-in-chief of its forces. But in 1819 

1 Much sharp and hitter language passed between Lord Cochrane and San 
Martin. Probably the two were incapable of understanding each other. The 
"Dictionary of National Biography" (XI. 172) implies that San Martin 
deserved Lord Cochrane's reproaches ; but the account of San Martin given 
in Hall's " South America," Vol. H. Ch. X., makes the correctness of this view 
seem at least very doubtful. 

^Eastwick's " Venezuela," p. 217. 



SOUTH AMERICA 513 



he succeeded in uniting these two countries into a single State, 
called the Republic of Colombia, of which he was chosen 
President. Three years later occurred his victorious campaign 
in the province of Quito, which now entered the Colombian 
Republic under the name of Ecuador,^ and increased Bolivar's 
authority and influence. Still greater prestige came to him 
after his armies liberated Peru in 1824, for the Congress of 
Lima made him dictator with absolute powers. And finally, 
in 1825, Upper Peru, which had been under the government 
established recently at Buenos Ayres (p. 507), as it belonged 
once to the viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres, formed itself into a 
separate State under the name of Bolivia, made the triumphant 
general perpetual dictator, and intrusted him with the task of 
preparing it a Constitution. 

Such a rapid advancement in power and authority was 
enough to inspire any man with far-reaching ambition ; and 
Bolivar, though sometimes called the "Washington of South 
America," did not possess Washington's well-balanced mind 
and perfect self-control. The powers which had been given 
him for the purposes of warfare he wished to keep perpetually ; 
and it was just when the most splendid future seemed before 
him that his influence began to decline. For with the dawn 
of peace the countries he had freed began to manifest strong 
republican aspirations. Bolivar's arrogant and dictatorial 
ways gave offence to the partisans of popular sovereignty, 
and a fierce factional warfare arose between the Liberals, who 
believed that each State should pursue its own separate career 
and devote its energies to internal reforms, and the Federal- 
ists, who were ardently attached to Bolivar and were deter- 
mined to carry through their scheme of federation at any cost. 
Hence, the era of peade soon degenerated into an era of dis- 
sension. In all the States which had been freed by Bolivar's 
exertions and had come under his ascendency, violent conten- 
tions arose and stood in the way of peaceable and steady prog- 
ress. Thus here, as in Central America, the incapacity of 
the Spanish American for self-government began to be strik- 
ingly manifest. 

1 This name was derived from the southernmost of the three departments 
into which the old Spanish province of Quito was divided. This department 
was called Ecuador (Equator) because the equator passed through it. 
2l 



514 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

That Bolivar's actions at this period were due to a purely 
selfish ambition cannot be justly concluded. No doubt he 
wished to wield the vast powers to which he aspired for 
the prosperity and political advancement of the people. But 
his methods were unfortunate, and equally so were those of 
some of his most distinguished compatriots. On May 25, 
1826, he presented to the Congress of Bolivia his draft of a 
Constitution, and at the same time recommended that form of 
government which he deemed most suitable for the newly 
established Kepublics. As the most striking feature in his 
plan was that the President of each Republic should be 
appointed for life, the friends of constitutional government 
took alarm. Even in Chili and in Buenos Ayres the Repub- 
licans were filled with apprehension, while in Peru they 
accused Bolivar of conspiring to subvert free institutions and 
to bring all the States of Spanish America under his own 
absolute rule.^ 

And in truth this was exactly what Bolivar wanted and 
endeavored to accomplish. But his efforts were unsuccessful. 
Bolivar was at this time President of the Republic of Colombia, 
and Santander, an able and upright man, was its Vice-Presi- 
dent ; but Bolivar left the practical management of affairs in 
Santander's hands, while he himself pushed forward his dic- 
tatorial schemes in Bolivia. But rebellion soon called him 
back to the seat of government. Venezuela became disaffected 
in 1826, and Ecuador in the following year. By using the 
powers which the Constitution gave him and by establishing 
military rule in these States, Bolivar for the time being kept 
them under his control. But his power was waning fast. In 
February, 1827, he resigned his official position, and, although 
he was asked by the Senate to withdraw his resignation, it 
was apparent that he was losing his adherents, while San- 
tander, whose loyalty to the Constitution had commanded 
respect, was steadily gaining friends. But, instead of profit- 
ing by this lesson and abandoning his despotic ways, Bolivar 
became more arbitrary than ever. On March 21, 1828, he 
issued a decree, convening a national Congress at Orcana; 

iln the "Memoirs of Simon Bolivar." by General H. L. V. Ducoudray 
Holstein (1829), is a memoir by the Marquis of Torre-Tagle, late President 
of Peru, which shows how high-handed were Bolivar's actions there. 



CHAP. Ill SOUTH AMERICA 615 

and when it assembled, he quartered himself near it with an 
array of three thousand men, with a view to controlling its 
proceedings. True, he did not play the part of Cromwell and 
send his soldiers on the floor of the assembly hall, but he 
directed his own followers to leave the Convention and thereby 
deprived it of a quorum. So the Convention could accomplish 
nothing, and his own friends, to whom he issued earnest 
appeals, now became masters of the situation. Summoning 
popular assemblies at Bogota, Caracas, and Cartagena, they 
granted him the powers of a dictator. Thus fortified, he 
issued a decree in August, 1828, declaring himself absolute 
ruler of Colombia. 

But these high-handed measures could not long delay his 
downfall. The States became more and more disaffected, and 
not even by military force was he long able to hold them in sub- 
jection. Venezuela withdrew from the Confederation in 1829, 
and in the following year the Liberals in Ecuador wrested 
the government from the adherents of Bolivar and made 
Ecuador an independent Eepublic. These secessions broke 
Bolivar's power, and it soon became apparent that even over 
the remaining portion of the Colombian Republic he could no 
longer retain his sway. The Convention that met at Bogota, 
the capital, in 1830, accepted his resignation from the presi- 
dency, greatly to his mortification, and there was nothing 
left for him but to retire from piiblic life. Disappointed and 
broken in health, he spent the few months that remained to 
him in bitter reflections,' and only a few days before his death 
he dictated a farewell address to the nation in which he taxed 

1 Bolivar's feelings at this period are shown hy the following extracts from 
a letter which he wrote to General Flores of Ecuador only about a month 
before his death. They were first published in English by Hassaurek in his 
" Four Years among Spanish Americans," Ch. XII. 

" I have been in power for nearly twenty years, from which I have gathered 
only a few definite results : — 

1. America is for us ungovernable. 

2. He who dedicates his services to a revolution ploughs the sea. 

3. The only thing that can be done in America is to emigrate. 

4. This country will inevitably fall into the hands of the unbridled rabble, 
and little by little become a prey to petty tyrants of all colors and races. 

5. Devoured as we shall be by all possible crimes, and ruined by our fero- 
ciousness, the Europeans will not deem it worth while to conquer us. 

6. If it were possible for any part of the world to return to a state of primi- 
tive chaos, that would be the last stage of South America." 



516 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

his countrymen with ingratitude and injustice. He died on 
December 17, 1830, having lived long enough to see the States 
he had freed fail utterly in their attempt at federative union 
and enter the troublous pathway of factional warfare. Since 
his death Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia have 
continued to be separate and independent States. 

Equally futile were the efforts to weld the remaining Spanish 
countries of South America into a permanent federation. The 
viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres was a very extensive province, 
comprising the territory now occupied by Uruguay, Paraguay, 
Bolivia, and the Argentine Republic. Under Spanish rule the 
viceroyalty was divided into six provinces, and these six prov- 
inces made the units out of which the new State was composed. 
The first attempt at union was utterly unsuccessful, as the 
government was very imperfectly organized and the people of 
the country barely knew what system of rule they desired. So 
far were they from accepting true republican principles that 
they sent delegates to Europe in 1814 to find them a prince in 
England, France, or some other monarchical country. But as 
this project fell through, and as the government seemed to have 
no power to preserve order outside of Buenos Ayres itself, a 
Congress was assembled at Tucuman in 1816 and a new Con- 
federation, called the " United Provinces of Eio de la Plata," 
was established. Like all Spanish-American people at this 
time, the members of the Congress looked upon the United 
States as having successfully solved all the problems of govern- 
ment, and they adopted some of the fundamental features of 
the United States Constitution. For they provided that the 
new Confederation should be governed by a president and by a 
legislature consisting of two houses. But that the forms of 
a republic are worth little without a free and intelligent 
exercise of the right of suffrage, they had yet to learn. 

Hence this new experiment in nation-making soon ended in 
failure. The new Constitution, from which so much was 
expected, was not even adopted by all of the provinces ; for an 
antagonism was speedily developed between the city of Buenos 
Ayres and the men of influence in the rural districts. Accus- 
tomed to lead the people about them, these men could not 
brook the assumptions of the capital city, which despised the 
raw civilization of the pampas, being quite unconscious of the 



SOUTH AMERICA 517 



thinness and poverty of its own. There being this lack of sym- 
pathy and cooperation between the different parts of the United 
Provinces and their centre, the process of disintegration soon 
began. Bolivia asserted its independence in 1825 (p. 513). 
Paraguay, as early as 1814, passed under the despotic rule of 
Jose Gaspar Rodriguez Francia, who exercised such absolute 
authority that the province never really came under the control 
of the Buenos Ay res Government. In Uruguay, Jose Artigas, 
a guacho who had served with success in the war for indepen- 
dence, attempted the role of dictator which Francia had played 
so successfully in Paraguay, and in 1814 he made himself 
master of affairs. After ruling despotically for a few years 
and stirring up much strife, he was driven out of the country 
in 1820, and Uruguay was annexed by Brazil as the Cisplatine 
State. But its people were little inclined to submit to this 
arrangement, and, encouraged to revolt by Buenos Ayres, they 
declared themselves independent on August 25, 1825. This 
action led to a "war between Buenos Ayres and Brazil for the 
possession of Uruguay, which lasted several years. But, partly 
through the intervention of the British Government, the inde- 
pendence of the country was recognized on October 4, 1828. 

Thus the tendencies to disintegration, to petty despotisms, 
and to ceaseless political turmoil were as strong in the United 
Provinces of Rio de la Plata as they were in the Colombian 
Republic. Everywhere throughout the Confederation there 
was factional strife, . which ended in the elevation of some 
soldier of fortune to the control of his own province. Under 
these conditions the cause of federal unity was hopelessly lost, 
and the only question was how far the process of disintegra- 
tion would extend. Would each one of the six provinces that 
once made up the viceroy alty of Buenos Ayres become an 
independent State, or could any of them be held together and 
be made into one Republic of imposing power and dimensions ? 
If such a unifying movement could be accomplished, Buenos 
Ayres itself must be its centre, for no other city possessed the 
necessary energy and prestige. And even at Buenos Ayres 
there was confusion for a while ; for in 1820 Jose Rondeau, 
the last director elected under the Constitution of 1816, was 
overthrown, and at first it seemed doubtful if any one could 
establish order. But a few months later General Manuel 



'518 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

Domingo Rodriguez appointed Bernardino Rivadavia Secre- 
tary of the Interior and Dr. Manuel Garcia Secretary of the 
Treasury ; and, with the aid of these two able and progressive 
men, he effected a number of reforms. Liberty of the press 
was decreed, protection was extended to savings-banks and 
other financial institutions, education was encouraged, and the 
Church was declared separate from the State. Thus Buenos 
Ayres made good its right to lead and to save the surrounding 
provinces from discord and anarchy. The States which had 
not declared their independence continued to recognize Buenos 
Ayres as their capital, and on January 23, 1825, they received 
from the Buenos Ayres Government a national Constitution. 
Thus the process of disintegration was to some extent stayed, 
and the Argentine Republic, as now constituted, had its first 
beginnings. Through Canning's influence the British Govern- 
ment recognized the independence of the country in a commer- 
cial treaty which was signed February 3, only a few days after 
the Constitution was decreed. Fortunate in these negotiations 
with a great European power, the State was equally fortunate 
in its first President ; Rivadavia, the head of the Unitarians, 
being chosen to that ofiice in spite of the efforts of the Fed- 
erals, who were opposed to national unity and to a strong 
central government. 

Thus by the year 1830 the question of federation was settled 
all over South America. Brazil had become an Empire under 
a branch of the Portuguese monarchical house (p. 117). Chili, 
owing to its isolated position, never joined any union of the 
States after it established its independence in 1818. The old 
viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres had been broken up into the 
separate States of Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Argen- 
tine Confederation. Bolivar had failed to make a Republic 
out of the Colombian States ; and if these smaller federations 
could not hold together, still less could the countries of South 
America follow the example of the American Union and, 
through the binding power of a Constitution, develop into a 
great nation. Many obstacles were in the way of permanent 
union. The area of the States was vast, and they were sparsely 
settled ; they were severed by wide rivers and lofty mountain 
chains ; they had no well-developed system of roads to make 
intercourse easy. But all these difficulties might have been 



CHAP. HI THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC 519 

overcome if the political conditions had been more favorable. 
It was the ignorance, the instability, the superstition, and the 
lack of political experience that made all the larger federative 
schemes fall through. In South America, as well as in Central 
America and Mexico, the Spanish American has shown himself 
unable to understand the principles of self-government. Hence, 
even the story of the separate States is an unattractive and 
discouraging one. Some few of them have shown a capacity 
for progress, orderly government, and all the institutions that 
belong to advanced civilization. But these States are the excep- 
tions. In most of them revolution has succeeded revolution, 
anarchy alternates with despotism, and the people, though they 
cherish republican ideals, cannot found a true Republic. 

TJie Argentine Republic 

The Confederation of the United Provinces of Rio de la 
Plata, established in 1816, had from the beginning an arduous 
and struggling existence (p. 516). Rivadavia ruled the Con- 
federation with justice and moderation, but he was followed 
in 1829 by Rosas, who obtained dictatorial powers and main- 
tained his ascendency for more than twenty years by tyranny 
and bloodshed. He was driven from the country in 1852, and 
in the following year a new Constitution was proclaimed, the 
country now taking the name of the Argentine Republic. But 
the new Confederation found almost as many difficulties to 
contend with as the old. The province of Buenos Ayres de- 
clared itself independent in the very year that the Constitution 
was adopted, and did not rejoin the Confederation until 1859. 
Even after this was accomplished, the country did not find 
peace and prosperity. In 1865 the Republic was forced into 
a serious war with Paraguay, which lasted till 1870. Only 
four years later occurred a civil uprising under Brigadier-Gen- 
eral Mitre, who had been a candidate for the presidency and 
who asserted that his successful rival, President Avellaneda, 
had carried the election by fraudulent means. The revolution 
was put down in sixty-six days and was followed by a period 
of comparative tranquillity, during which the country made 
considerable progress. 

But an insurrection which broke out in 1890 brought this 
era of progress temporarily to an end, as it proved to be of a 



520 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

formidable character. It was caused by the extravagance and 
the arbitrary conduct of President Juarez Celman. Though 
he brought the country into great financial difficulties and 
showed himself an incapable executive, President Celman re- 
fused to resign his office, and severe fighting took place between 
his supporters and the insurgents. He was finally forced to 
retire from office ; but hardly had good order been restored 
before the country was visited by a disastrous panic. It was 
due in part to the corrupt practices and reckless expenditures 
of the Celman Government, and in part to over-rapid indus- 
trial and commercial expansion. This unfortunate financial 
condition was aggravated by political restlessness, and for 
some years the country suffered from frequent rebellions and 
from a stringency in the money market which seriously affected 
its credit with foreign countries. But after a time the Gov- 
ernment established its authority, and prosperity began to 
return. The country, which has an area nearly one third as 
large as that of the United States, including Alaska, is one 
of the richest agricultural and grazing regions in the world, 
and with the growth of industry and commerce there is devel- 
oping a strong desire for settled government and for all those 
conditions which make progress possible. For many years 
the Republic has attracted large numbers of immigrants, the 
Italians in particular finding it a desirable field for new enter- 
prises. Education is carefully fostered and encouraged, for 
not only are children from six to fourteen years of age required 
to attend school, but a number of secondary schools and sev- 
eral normal schools are maintained by the general Government. 
There are also colleges and two universities. 

The Constitution of the Republic is liberal, and is modelled 
very closely after that of the United States. The President, 
who serves six years and who cannot be reelected, is chosen 
indirectly by a body of electors. He must belong to the Roman 
Catholic Church. There are two parliamentary Houses, as 
there are, theoretically at least, in every South American 
State. The senators are elected for nine years, each state of 
the Republic choosing two through its Legislature, and two 
being chosen from the capital by a special body of electors. 
Senators must have an income of two thousand dollars, though 
they and the members of the Chambers of Deputies are paid 



CHAP, in BOLIVIA 521 

for their services. The Deputies are chosen for four years 
directly by the people. Each state has also its own separate 
government, consisting of a legislature and of a governor who 
is not appointed by the central authorities, as the prefects 
of departments are in France, but is voted for directly by 
the people. The Roman Catholic is the State religion, but 
all creeds are tolerated. The population numbers about four 
millions, but is rapidly increasing. 

Bolivia 

Agitated by almost unceasing revolutions, Bolivia has made 
but little progress since it became a distinct and independent 
nation in 1825. For this has been one of the most restless 
of all the perturbed and unsettled South American Repub- 
lics. For a long time it did succeed in keeping its credit good 
and avoiding a foreign debt; but after it passed under the 
rule of President Melgarejo in 1865, its finances became seri- 
ously disordered, and the disastrous conflict with Chili, in 
1879 and 1880, made its condition still worse. As a result 
of the war it was obliged to mortgage its coast territory, hav- 
ing an area of 29,910 square miles, to Chili, and it thus lost 
control of its nitrate beds, which had been an important source 
of wealth to the country, and was also deprived of all access 
to the sea. But in 1896 Chili agreed to give it a seaport if it 
would permanently surrender the mortgaged district. 

The President of Bolivia is elected for six years by a direct 
vote of the people, but he cannot be reelected for the term that 
immediately follows his own. The members of the Senate are 
chosen for six years by direct suffrage, and those of the Cham- 
ber of Deputies for four years in the same manner. The 
suffrage belongs to all who can read and write. The Roman 
Catholic is the religion of the State, but all forms of worship 
are tolerated. 

Such is Bolivia's scheme of government ; but its democratic 
Constitution seems to have little influence upon the politics of 
the country. Not the suffrages of the people, but the strong 
hand and the sword, appoint the nation's executive. Even as 
the century draws to its end,^ Bolivia is the scene of a formi- 
dable insurrection against the government. 

1 This was the condition of affairs at the beginning of 1899. 



522 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 



Brazil 

After John VI. of Portugal had returned to his own country 
(p. 117), his eldest son, Dom Pedro, was chosen Perpetual 
Defender of Brazil. On September 7, 1822, he proclaimed 
the independence of the country, and on October 12 of the 
same year he was made Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual 
Defender. Not without a struggle did Portugal relinquish her 
hold upon her South American province ; but her forces were 
defeated on land and sea by the Brazilians, and before the 
end of the year 1823 the independence of Brazil was fairly 
established. 

But the newly constituted Emperor found it a difficult task 
to govern his wide-reaching domains. Opposed to liberal prin- 
ciples, he ruled autocratically and excited the antagonism of 
the Republicans all over the Empire. As his troops were 
defeated by the forces of the Argentine Confederation, and as 
the finances of the country were in a very unsound condition, 
he grew more and more unpopular, and finally abdicated in 
1831 and sailed for Portugal, after naming his son, Dom Pedro, 
the heir apparent of the throne. Dom Pedro was at this 
time only five years old, and the country was placed under a 
regency, which was republican in its character. But this 
Government failed to establish order, and in 1840 Dom Pedro 
was declared of age in order that rebellion and intrigue might 
be brought to an end. For nearly fifty years Dom Pedro 
maintained his sway, and he proved a liberal and progressive 
ruler. During his reign the slave-trade was abolished, and 
steps were taken to bring slavery itself to an end by gradual 
emancipation. Moreover, the wealth of the Empire steadily 
increased, trade and commerce were developed, new enter- 
prises were promoted, and education was encouraged. But 
the Empire was out of harmony with its surroundings. The 
other South American countries were Republics at least in 
name, and the people of Brazil grew restless under monarchi- 
cal rule. Accordingly, they rose against the government in 
1889, forced Dom Pedro and his family to sail for Europe, and 
proclaimed a Republic. On February 24, 1891, a new Consti- 
tution was adopted and a republican form of government was 
established. This Constitution was formally adopted by the 



CHAP. Ill CHILI 523 

Constituent Assembly in February of the following year ; but 
the country did not secure peace and quiet by proclaiming 
democratic institutions. On the contrary, it has of recent 
years been the seat of conspiracy, insurrection, and petty war- 
fare, and steady progress has been impossible. Yet its popu- 
lation has been increasing, its industries have been developed, 
and the interest on its foreign debt has usually been paid, 
though not without serious effort. 

By the provisions of the Constitution adopted in 1891 the 
President is elected for six years by an electoral college. Both 
senators and deputies are chosen by direct vote of the people, 
the former for nine years and the latter for three. The fran- 
chise belongs to all persons not under twent3^-one years of age, 
who are not beggars, illiterate, soldiers in active service, or 
members of monastic orders under vows of obedience. The 
Republic comprises twenty states, each of which must, by the 
Constitution, be organized under a republican form of govern- 
ment, and have its administrative, legislative, and judicial 
authorities distinct and independent. There is no recognized 
state religion, all forms of worship being on an equality. Pri- 
mary education, though controlled by the governments of the 
individual states and not by the central Government, is made 
gratuitous by the Constitution. 

Brazil is nearly as large as the United States including 
Alaska, having an area of 3,218,182 square miles. Its popula- 
tion is about 17,500,000. 

Chili 

The independence of Chili was secured by the decisive 
battle of Maipo, which was fought on April 5, 1818. Soon 
afterward a government was formed, and Chili took its place 
among the nations of the world. For about fifteen years its 
political affairs were in great confusion, as its rulers assumed 
dictatorial powers, and one administration followed another in 
rapid succession. But in 1833 the present Constitution of the 
country was framed and promulgated, and since that time 
Chili has almost continuously enjoyed the blessings of firm 
and stable government. Its presidents have usually adminis- 
tered its affairs with wisdom ; its credit has been good with 
foreign nations ; its legislation has been enlightened and pro- 



524 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

gressive. But in 1886 an unscrupulous man, named Don Jose 
Manuel Balmaceda, was elevated to the presidency, and so 
despotically did he govern that Chili soon became the theatre 
of a desperate and bloody civil war. On the first of January, 
1891, Congress pronounced Balmaceda guilty of treason to the 
Constitution, deposed him from his office, and named Senor 
Jorge Montt as its assistant in its endeavors to make the 
authority of the Constitution paramount. This decree Balma- 
ceda resisted, and, though the navy supported Congress, the 
army remained faithful to him, and thus he was able to defy 
the power of Congress for several months. The contest was 
not settled until Balmaceda's party had been defeated in two 
fiercely fought battles. But finally, realizing that further resist- 
ance was useless, Balmaceda committed suicide on December 19, 
1891 ; and on November 4 of the same year Jorge Montt was 
elected President. 

This deplorable and sanguinary struggle is hardly to be 
classed with the revolutionary outbreaks that have convulsed 
the greater portion of Spanish America for three quarters of a 
century. It arose through the efforts of Congress to set aside 
a tyrannical ruler, and when it was ended, law and order were 
reestablished, and the civil strife was seen to have been an 
unusual episode in the history of the country, not the begin- 
ning of anarchy and political turmoil. Since Balmaceda's 
death the country has been as well governed as it was in the 
long period that preceded his rise to power. In the honesty 
with which it meets its obligations, in the sobriety of its legis- 
lation, and in its capacity for intellectual and material progress, 
Chili compares favorably with the enlightened countries of 
to-day. At the same time it must be admitted that its pros- 
perity and the settled character of its government have been 
due to the ascendency of a class rather than to the* free and 
orderly working of republican institutions. For Chili is in the 
hands of a landed aristocracy, whose members have monopo- 
lized the powers granted by the Constitution. The State, 
therefore, is not a democracy, but a strongly organized and 
centralized oligarchy.^ Accordingly, it must not be supposed 
that even in this well-ordered Spanish-American country the 
supreme law of the land is fully obeyed either in letter or 
1 Spanish- American Manual for 1891. 



COLOMBIA 525 



spirit. We are not to be suj;prised, then, that the President 
sometimes names his own successor, though he is supposed to 
be chosen for five years, indirectly, by a body of electors. The 
Constitution itself secures the election of the wealthier class 
to the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies ; for the senators, 
whose term is six years and who are chosen indirectly by the 
provinces, receive no salary and must have an income of two 
thousand dollars a year or its equivalent ; while the deputies, 
who serve for three years, also receive no salary and must pos- 
sess property that yields them an equivalent of five hundred 
dollars a year. The deputies are supposed to be elected by the 
direct vote of the people in the provinces, but the vote is not 
always a fair expression of the popular will. There are no 
provincial legislatures, as the Government is too highly cen- 
tralized to share its authority with the powers that might inter- 
fere with its full control. All who are twenty -one years of age 
and can read and write have the right to vote. The Koman 
Catholic is the religion supported by the State, but entire 
freedom of worship is allowed. Both elementary and higher 
education are provided by the Government without charge. 

Colombia 

The old Spanish viceroyalty of New Granada made a part 
of the Colombian Confederation until that organization was 
dissolved in 1832. Becoming then a separate Republic, it 
kept the name of New Granada until 1858, when it was 
changed into a confederation of eight states under the title 
of the Confederation Granadina. But this political arrange- 
ment was short-lived. In 1863 a new federal Constitution 
was adopted, and the State was now known as the United 
States of Colombia. In 1886, however, it took the name of 
the Republic of Colombia, which it still retains. As these 
changes would suggest, the country has had its full share of 
insurrections and civil disturbances ; and such progress as it 
has made has been accomplished during those rarely recurring 
periods when quiet has been maintained by an unusually able 
ruler. In the last two decades of the century there have been 
several uprisings of a formidable character, and the govern- 
ment forces have not always been able to hold their own 
against the insurgents. But the population of the country 



626 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

is increasing, its mineral and agricultural resources are vast, 
and its import and export trade, though varying greatly from 
year to year, shows a tendency to expand. Under settled con- 
ditions its industries must have an immense development. 
Following the example of other South American countries, 
Colombia adopted in 1863 a Constitution very much like that 
of the United States. But in 1886 this Constitution was set 
aside in favor of one which was less truly republican in char- 
acter. For the nine States which had made up the Republic 
were deprived of their sovereignty and made into mere depart- 
ments, each under the control of a governor nominated by the 
President. Thus the principle of centralization has received 
the same recognition here that it has in France, where the 
President appoints the prefects of the departments. The 
President of Colombia is chosen for six years by electoral col- 
leges. The members of the Senate are appointed for six years 
by the governors of the departments without much regard to 
the popular will ; those of the House of Representatives are 
elected by universal suffrage for four years. The State recog- 
nizes the Roman Catholic religion, but permits all forms of 
worship. It has done much to encourage education, public 
instruction having been taken from the hands of the clergy in 
1870 and placed under the control of the Government, a reform 
in the school system being at the same time carried out. But 
primary education, though gratuitous, is not compulsory. 

The area of Colombia is a little above 500,000 square miles, 
and its population numbers about 4,000,000. 

Ecuador 

The Republic of Ecuador came into existence on May 11, 
1830, through the disruption of the Colombian Federation. 
Like the other Spanish States of South America, it attempted 
to establish a republican form of government, and to that end 
adopted a Constitution ; but so much power was placed in the 
hands of the President as to render him a despot rather than 
the head of a free State. For he could arrest and imprison 
without trial all persons whom he considered dangerous to the 
State. This power was unscrupulously used by various presi- 
dents, and for many years the political history of Ecuador was 



PARAGUAY 527 



chiefly distinguished by petty tyranny, intrigue, reactionary 
measures, and consequent revolutions. Dr. Gabriel Garcia 
Moreno, who was made President by the Conservatives in 
1861, made himself conspicuous by his opposition to progress 
and education, and by his subserviency to a narrow and bigoted 
priesthood. More than once forced to retire from office, he 
reinstated himself by force or by underhand measures ; but he 
was assassinated in 1875. Before his death the President's 
power to imprison on suspicion was taken away; and in spite 
of its corrupt and unsettled political condition Ecuador has 
made some progress in education and in material prosperity. 
But it is still one of the most backward and poorly governed 
States of South America. No later than 1895 it was the scene 
of an insurrection, as a result of which General Alfaro was 
made dictator and afterward elected President. 

The President is elected for four years directly by the 
people. There are two Congressional Houses : the Senate, 
composed of two members for each province, who are elected 
for four years, and a Chamber of Deputies, whose members 
are chosen for two years. The right to vote belongs to all male 
adults who can read and write, and who belong to the Roman 
Catholic Church. 

Paraguay 

None of the South American countries have been more unfortu- 
nate than this small, but rich and fertile State. From 1814 to 
1840 it was under the rule of Dr. Jose G. R. Francia, who 
assumed the power of a dictator and governed as a despot. 
After his death there was an interregnum of two years, at the 
end of which time two of his nephews, Mariano Roque Alonso 
and Don Carlos Antonio Lopez, were chosen Consuls of the 
Republic. And in 1844 a new Constitution was adopted by 
Congress, and Don Carlos Antonio Lopez was elected sole 
President. This position he retained until 1862, when his 
son, Don Francisco Solano Lopez, succeeded him and soon 
brought the country into a desolating war with Brazil, Uru- 
guay, and the Argentine Republic. The struggle lasted for 
five years, and when it ended with the death of Lopez in 1870, 
Paraguay had lost a large portion of its population and was in 
an utterly impoverished and prostrate condition. However, it 



528 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

proclaimed a new Constitution and made an earnest effort to 
establish order and regain prosperity. For many years its 
gains were slow, but in the last decade of the century it took 
its place among the growing and progressive South American 
countries. Possessing vast natural resources and favored with 
an excellent climate, it showed great recuperative energy, and 
its trade and population increased from year to year. Since 
the death of Lopez it has been little troubled with revolutions. 
Paraguay has an area of 98,000 square miles, and a popula- 
tion of about 500,000. The President is elected for four years 
by an electoral college, and eight years must then pass before 
he can be chosen a second time. The members of the Senate 
and of the Chamber of Deputies sit respectively for six years 
and for four years, and are chosen directly by the people. 

Peru 

Peru has not had a fortunate history since its independence 
was established in 1824. For twenty years it was torn by 
civil strife and subjected to the despotic rule of military 
presidents who believed that they could solve the problems of 
government by an appeal to the sword. In 1845 began a long 
period of progress and prosperity which lasted, with only one 
or two short interruptions, for thirty-five years. During this 
time the Constitution was remodelled and put, as to essentials, 
in its present form ; slavery was abolished ; the Indians were 
released from paying tribute; and many internal improve- 
ments were made, though not without an enormous increase of 
the public debt. From 1872 to 1876 the country was under 
the administration of Don Manuel Pedro, who governed it 
with such wisdom and integrity that his memory is still 
cherished by the Peruvian people. 

But in 1879 began another season of calamity and disaster. 
For in tha.t year Peru and Bolivia were drawn into a war with 
Chili toward which events had long been leading, but which 
found them poorly prepared. The difficulty arose over a strip 
of land on the sea-coast to which Chili and Bolivia both laid 
claim. ^ To enforce her claims Chili declared war upon Bolivia, 

1 It is believed by many that Chili was the aggressor in this war, but this 
view is hardly borne out by the facts of the case. Chili claimed that her 



CHAP. Ill PERU 629 

and as Peru had formed an offensive and defensive alliance 
with the latter country, she was forced to take part in the 
struggle. 

But the armies of Peru and Bolivia proved to be no match 
for those of Chili ; nor was the Peruvian navy able to cope 
with the Chilian warships. Consequently, after a sanguinary 
and wasting conflict, the disputed tract was ceded to Chili,^ 
and peace was made on October 20, 1883. But this encroach- 
ment upon her boundaries was not the worst result which Peru 
experienced from the war. For the bitter and savage conflict 
engendered a spirit of lawlessness which was not suppressed 
for many years. One insurrection followed another, and the 
Government found it almost impossible to establish its author- 
ity. Order was however at last restored, and the country is 
now endeavoring to regain its lost prosperity and to heal the 

territory extended to the twenty-third parallel of latitude, and this claim was 
not disputed by Bolivia until copper mines and rich deposits of guano were 
found between the twenty-third and twenty-fourth parallels. Bolivia then 
claimed that the twenty-fourth parallel was Chili's northern boundary; and 
it was not until Chili had made large concessions with a view to adjusting the 
dispute that she finally resorted to war. In 1879 the French minister at Chili 
made a report to his Government upon the war between Peru and Chili, and 
quoted a diplomatic note of the prefect of Antofagasta as fairly expressing the 
attitude of the Chilian Government in its controversy with the other two 
powers. A portion of the note (as translated from the Spanish by the French 
minister) reads: " Le gouvernement du Chili ne peut voir dans la Bolive 
qu'un pays frere et ami, avec lequel il veut maintenir toujours et resserrer les 
relations les plus cordial du fraternite, et fera tons les efforts en son pouvoir 
afin que la paix et I'amitie existant jusqu'a ce jour ne soient pas troublees." 
The causes of the quarrel are also discussed in " Historia de la Guerrade Amer- 
ica entre Chile, Peruy Bolivia," por Don Tomas Caivano, Ch. I., pp. 19-47 ; and 
in " Histoire de la Guerre du Pacifique," par Diego Barras Arana, published in 
Paris in 1882, and reviewed at length in the Nation, 34: 361. 

1 Tarapaca, the southern province in the disputed tract, was ceded to Chili 
" unconditionally and forever." Tacna and Arica, the provinces immediately 
to the north of Tarapaca, were to be held by Chili for ten years, and at the 
end of that time the inhabitants of the two provinces were to decide by a pleb- 
iscite whether they wished to make a part of Peru or of Chili, it being 
agreed that the country which obtained them should pay the other .f 10,000,000. 
The plebiscite was never held, owing to political disturbances in Peru; but it 
became apparent that the people of Tacna and Arica were overwhelmingly in 
favor of belonging to Peru, and Chili showed herself ready to give them up 
whenever Peru could guarantee the payment of the |!10,000,000. It was also 
agreed that Peruvian creditors should receive fifty per cent from the sate of 
the guano beds, though Chili should have exclusive rights to new deposits dis- 
covered in the ceded territory. Bureau of American Republics, Bulletin No. 
60, p. 27; " Annual Register" and " Appletou's Annual Cyclopedia " for 1895 
and succeeding years. 
2m 



530 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

wounds inflicted by crushing defeat and distracting civil strife. 
But, though it is making progress, its recovery is slow. 

The executive power of Peru is vested in a President, who is 
chosen for four years indirectly. The legislative power belongs 
to a Senate and a House of Eepresentatives. The members of 
each House are chosen indirectly by electoral colleges for a 
term of six years. The State religion is the Roman Catholic, 
and the law does not countenance any other form of public 
worship, though the rule is not strictly enforced. Elementary 
education is free and compulsory. 

Uruguay 

Securing its independence in 1828, Uruguay adopted a repub- 
lican Constitution two years later; but the country showed 
itself utterly unequal to the task of self-government. For 
seventy years its history has been a record of insurrection, 
foreign warfare, political corruption, and financial embarrass- 
ment. As late as 1898 the country was disturbed by a revolu- 
tionary conspiracy and by a revolt of two regiments of the 
army, who seized the arsenal at Montevideo, the capital, and 
resisted the Government so strongly that the city was declared 
to be in a state of siege. Order was only established by a 
proclamation of amnesty by which the ringleaders were allowed 
to leave the country unmolested. These frequent outbreaks 
have prevented good government, and the debt of the country 
has been enormously increased in recent years by corrupt and 
extravagant administration of the national finances. In 1885 
the public debt amounted to $55,537,000 ; at the end of 1897 
it stood at 1120,765,000.^ 

It is only by an abuse of language that such a country as 
Uruguay can be termed a republic ; yet the Constitution of 
1828 provides for a republican form of government. The suf- 
frage is bestowed upon all who can read and write. The Pres- 
ident and the senators are chosen indirectly, for four and six 
years respectively. The members of the Chamber of Eepre- 
sentatives are elected for three years directly by the people. 
All religions are tolerated, but the Roman Catholic is that of 
the State. Primary education is compulsory. The country 

1 " Current History," 8:926. 



VENEZUELA 531 



has an area of 72,110 square miles, which is about that of the 
State of Nebraska, and a population of from 400,000 to 500,000. 
It contains deposits of gold, silver, copper, and other min- 
erals, and has a soil of remarkable fertility. 

Venezuela 

Becoming an independent Kepublic in 1829, Venezuela chose 
Paez to be its first President. The country prospered under 
his liberal and progressive rule,^ and for nearly twenty years 
it suffered little from political upheavals. General Monagas 
headed a rebellion against the Government in 1831, but he was 
soon suppressed ; nor did another outbreak, which occurred in 
1835 and lasted into the following year, succeed in destroying 
the Constitution. It was Paez who crushed both of these 
insurrections. But after serving as President for the second 
time from 1839 till 1843, he himself took the field against the 
Government in 1848, having become alarmed at the attempts 
to subvert the Constitution and to rule as dictator rather than 
as" president. Monagas, however, proved too strong for his old 
opponent. After a short struggle Paez and his adherents were 
completely routed, and Paez himself was captured and put in 
prison, where his treatment was unpardonably severe. Being 
released in May, 1850, he went to New York; and though 
twice afterward he returned to Venezuela, he found that he 
was unable to quiet dissension there, and he finally returned 
to New York to end his days. His death occurred on May 6, 
1873. 

The disturbances which drove Paez from the country con- 
tinued until the latter part of 1870. They grew out of the 
fundamental disagreement of the Unionists and the Federal- 
ists, which was like that of the Federalists and the Anti- 
Federalists in the early days of the United States. The 
Unionists desired to establish a strong central government; 
the Federalists aimed to secure the sovereignty of the separate 
States ; and, finding an able leader in Don Guzman Blanco, 

1 During the administration of Paez, laws were passed " subjecting persons 
accused of treason to the ordinary civil jurisdiction, establishing freedom of 
worship, abolishing the monopoly of tobacco, and abolishing tithes. " — "Docu- 
ments relating to the Public Life of Paez," p. 36. 



532 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE AMERICA book iv 

they finally triumphed over their opponents. Prom December, 
1870, until February, 1873, Blanco ruled the country, nominally , 
as President, but really as dictator. Having quieted the coun- 
try by his firm exercise of power, he became its legitimate 
constitutional President for four years. His term expired in 
1877, but twice afterward he was reelected, and gave the coun- 
try the benefits of a progressive and efficient administration. 

Blanco's excellent rule, however, did not secure settled 
order and general recognition of the principles of self-govern- 
ment. During recent years Venezuela has been the scene of 
serious political disturbances, which culminated in a formidable 
insurrection against the Government in 1899. The uprising 
was headed by General Guerra, who found numerous adherents 
in the mountain districts, while the cities for the most part 
were loyal to the rule of President Andrade. At first General 
Guerra met with scant success, and, after being severely de- 
feated by the government troops, was obliged to flee into 
Colombia. But he proved to be a very stubborn antagonist ; 
for, rallying his forces, he routed the armies of the Govern- 
ment, and in October, 1899, he succeeded in driving President 
Andrade from his capital. Such occurrences show that the 
country of Paez has not yet learned the true nature of repub- 
lipan institutions. 

Venezuela's difficulties with Great Britain over the frontier 
question never had any great intrinsic importance; they assumed 
a fictitious importance through the firm stand taken by the 
United States Government against Great Britain's supposed 
encroachments upon the territory of a weaker power. How 
the matter was referred to arbitration has already been related 
(pp. 320, 460). The Commission which was appointed to settle 
the difficulty met at Paris in June, 1899. Professor F. Martens 
of the University of St. Petersburg was its president ; two 
representatives of the United States and two of Great Britain 
served with him on the Commission. The case for Venezuela 
was presented chiefly by United States counsel, of whom ex- 
President Harrison was the most distinguished, while emi- 
nent English lawyers sustained Great Britain's position in 
the controversy. For nearly four months the Commission 
listened to the opposing arguments and deliberated over the 
question, and finally gave its decision early in October. Some- 



CHAP. Ill VENEZUELA 533 

what to the disappointment of those Americans who hacl ac- 
cused Great Britain of unfair dealing in the matter, the decision 
was largely in favor of that power. For Great Britain was 
allowed to retain a very considerable portion of the gold fields 
to which Venezuela laid claim, and which had been a chief 
cause of the dispute between the two countries. 

By the Constitution promulgated in 1893 Venezuela is a 
federative Republic, under the executive authority of a Presi- 
dent who is chosen indirectly for four years. But that the 
President is often in reality a dictator has already been made 
apparent. It has also been shown that the members of the 
Senate are appointed by the departmental governments and 
not in accordance with democratic principles. The members 
of the House of Representatives are elected for four years by 
direct and universal male suffrage. The State religion is the 
Roman Catholic. The adherents of other faiths are not 
allowed to worship in public, though the rule is not strictly 
enforced. Elementary education is free and compulsory ; and 
illiteracy, which was general a generation ago, is steadily 
diminishing. Venezuela has an area of more than 5,500,000 
square miles and a population of about 2,500,000. 



BOOK y 
UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES 



LIBERIA 


JAPAN 


HAITI 


INDIA 


SANTO DOMINGO 


SI AM 



CHAPTER I 

LIBERIA 

The Republic of Liberia had rather a philanthropic than a 
political origin. Very early in the century certain benevolent 
Americans, among whom were Clay, Madison, and Bushrod 
Washington, undertook to provide a home for freedmen and 
other negroes, and the American Colonization Society was the 
outcome of their efforts. Conceived in 1811 and formally 
organized at Princeton College in 1816, the Society sent two 
agents to the west coast of Africa in 1817 to find a suitable 
location for the proposed Colony. The agents selected Sherbro 
Island, and here a band of eighty-eight colonists settled in 
1820. Not finding the spot as desirable as they had supposed 
it to be, they transferred themselves to the continent in 1822, 
and established a small settlement at Cape Mesurado. As the 
Colonization Society continued its labors, the number of these 
original settlers was gradually swelled, and altogether eighteen 
thousand persons were sent from America to join them. For 
many years, however, the colonists remained under the Society's 
control ; for, though certain rights of government were con- 
ferred upon them in 1824, and a Constitution giving them 
larger powers was granted them in 1828, the Society reserved 
to itself the final authority in all matters of importance. It 
was not until 1847 that the Colony acquired complete inde- 
pendence, and became a Republic. That its people were fitted 
for this new dignity was not clearly apparent; but England 
objected to the duty on imports which the colonists imposed, 
and the only way by which the colonists could carry their 
point was to acquire the rights of a free self-governing state. 
Accordingly, on July 26, 1847, the Colony, acting under the 
advice of the Society in America, declared itself an indepen- 
dent state. 

639 



540 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES book t 

For ten years previous to this event it had been governed 
by Joseph J. Roberts,, a negro of unusnal intelligence, who 
had administered affairs so ably and discreetly that he was 
now chosen President of the newly constituted Republic. No 
longer acting as the agent of the Colonization Society, but able 
to shape his own policy, he showed great efficiency and dip- 
lomatic skill. He made Liberia respected along the West 
African coast, advanced its boundaries, and waged successfrd 
war with native tribes who disputed his authority. But, more 
than all this, he obtained foreign recognition for his country 
by visiting the capitals of Europe and presenting its claims 
with dignity and address. So favorable was the impression 
which he made, and so energetic was his' administration of 
aifairs, that the early years of the Republic were full of 
promise and excited much favorable comment. In 1855 an 
English writer declared that the " Republic of Liberia has 
already taken an honorable place among the nations of the 
earth " ; ' and American writers were equally enthusiastic in 
their appreciation of the black man's commonwealth.^ 

But such commendation sprang from generous sentiment 
rather than from adequate knowledge of facts. At the time 
when the Republic was established, and for some years after- 
ward, the abolition movement was at its height in the United 
States. Indignant over the wrongs and sufferings of the negro, 
many people in the Northern States exaggerated his capacities 
and idealized his achievements. They expected much from 
Liberia, and they estimated results by their expectations. 
Hence, for some years after the close of the Civil War, they 
took a roseate view of the growth, development, and prospects 
of the black man's Republic. But gradually the world dis- 
covered that Liberia was not a growing, progressive, and well- 
ordered State. Roberts retired from the chief magistracy^ 
after serving for several terms ; and his successors were by no 
means equal to him in energy and ability. Nor did the Re- 
public attract as many colonists as had been expected. In 1857 
it increased its extent and population by uniting with Mary- 
land, a negro Republic to the east of Palmas, which had been 

1 London Quarterly, 4: 507. 

2 North American Review, 125: 147 and 517. 

3 He retired in 1857, but he was again elected in 1871. 



CHAP. I LIBERIA 541 

founded by people in Maryland in 1821. But the negroes of 
America have shown little inclination to leave the United 
States in order to share the doubtful advantages of living 
under a black man's government. That Liberia would have 
prospered if it had received a much larger infusion of Afro- 
American blood cannot be asserted with any confidence. The 
negro in the United States has shown greater aptitude for 
political corruption than for enlightened citizenship. But 
certainly Liberia has languished, its political life having 
grown feeble, and the civilized part of its population seeming 
unable to hold its own resolutely against the great mass of 
surrounding barbarism.* Of its 1,068,000 people only about 
18,000 are of Americo- African descent ; and only 4000 or 5000 
children are to be found in the schools. The wealth of the 
country does not increase and its trade is not expanding. The 
annual revenues, which are derived almost entirely from cus- 
toms duties, are hardly sufficient to meet the annual expendi- 
ture, still less to pay the interest on the country's indebtedness. 
English capitalists advanced £100,000 to Libei-ia in 1871, but 
no interest on this amount was paid after 1874. 

The Constitution of Liberia is modelled after that of the 
United States. All males who are of age and own real estate 
have the right of suffrage, and the elections are conducted by 
ballot. The executive is vested in a President, who is chosen 
for two years. The legislative branch of the government con- 
sists of a Senate, whose members are elected for four years, 
and a House of Representatives, whose members are elected 
for two. Liberia extends 500 miles along the coast, and has 
an area of 14,360 square miles. 

1 Some of the native tribes, notably the Mandingoes, are spirited and 
intelligent. 



CHAPTER II 

THE REPUBLIC OF HAITI 

Liberia is not the only black man's state that owes its 
origin to America, for the negroes of Haiti first acquired the 
love of freedom from the American Revolution. 

Their masters were French planters ; for the French gained 
possession of the western portion of the island of Santo Do- 
mingo in the earlier half of the seventeenth century, when the 
Spaniards abandoned it for the more alluring fields of Mexico 
and South America. Out of this bloodless conquest the French 
made a prosperous Colony, and, bringing slaves from Africa, 
they held them in subjection for more than a century. But 
when they bore aid to their American allies in the Revolution- 
ary War, they unwisely took their slaves with them to par- 
ticipate in the struggle for freedom ; and the negroes thus 
acquired a love of liberty which they never lost. They 
returned indeed to Haiti when the war for independence was 
over, and still rendered obedience to their masters. But they 
were discontented, and their discontent soon found opportu- 
nity for expression. The French planters revolted against the 
home Government, and the whites on the island who remained 
loyal called on the slaves to help them put down the insurrec- 
tion. Only too eagerly did the blacks respond to the call. 
They rushed into the conflict as tigers leap upon their prey, 
and, once tasting blood, they waged war more like demons 
than human beings. Haiti soon became a wild scene of con- 
flagration, rapine, and bloodshed ; and though the negroes were 
for a time kept under restraint by that remarkable man, Tous- 
saint L'Ouverture, they finally drove the French entirely out 
of the island.^ 

1 The brutality of the war between the French and the blacks under Des- 
salines is shown in Marcus Rainsford's "Black Empire of Haiti" (published 
in 1805). See pp. 337-339. 

542 



CHAP. II THE REPUBLIC OF HAITI 543 

It could not be expected that independence thus gained 
•would be wisely used. The negroes were free, but they were 
also coarse, ignorant, sensual, and brutish; and self-govern- 
ment was a term that conveyed no meaning to them. For a 
time, therefore, they submitted to the tyrants of their own 
race, who governed them with despotic rigor and cruelty. 
Dessalines was one of the most notorious of these rulers. The 
governments thus established were variously termed empires, 
monarchies, and constitutional presidencies ; but these names 
had little or no significance. Whatever the ruler was called, 
he was in fact a desj)ot, whose qualifications for governing 
were native vigor and animal courage, and who maintained 
himself in power by the fear which he inspired. From 1822 
until 1843 Santo Domingo, the eastern half of the island, was 
united with Haiti, and the State thus constituted was called 
the Republic of Haiti. But Santo Domingo revolted in 1844, 
and from this time on the two portions of the island had each 
its separate government. 

But even under these adverse conditions the blacks of Haiti 
found freedom a stimulus to growth. They have not learned 
to appreciate the full responsibilities of self-government, for 
nearly all their rulers have been assassinated or driven out of 
the country. But they have retained their vigor instead of 
growing indolent and degenerate, and they have acquired some 
respect for law and some appreciation of education. Their 
present Constitution, which was drawn up in 1867, has many 
excellent features ; and, if its provisions could be enforced, it 
would give the country an enlightened and satisfactory govern- 
ment. For it guarantees freedom of religious worship, trial by 
jury, and entire freedom of speech ; it makes primary educa- 
tion compulsory ; and it provides for a system of government 
which would make the country a true republic if it could be 
established and maintained. For it vests the executive power 
in a President who is to be elected by the people, and the leg- 
islative power in a Senate and a House of Representatives. 
The Senate is to be composed of thirty-nine members who are 
nominated for six years by the House of Representatives ; the 
representatives are to be chosen directly for three years by 
all male citizens who have an occupation. In many respects, 
it is to be noticed, the Constitution recognizes French usage 



544 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES book v 

and customs, the legal code being largely borrowed from the 
Code Napoleon, and the country being divided, like France, into 
departments, arrondissements, and communes. 

Unfortunately, the country has not, even in the closing 
decade of the century, put this well-devised scheme of govern- 
ment into successful operation. Haiti has in recent years 
been the scene of sanguinary warfare between opposing fac- 
tions, and has attracted attention chiefly by its feuds. But it 
is now quiet, and its condition is fairly prosperous. Certainly 
it may be said that the negroes of Haiti have been better off 
since they gained their freedom than they were under their. 
French masters; and, with almost everything against them, 
they have yet kept alive a rude and imperfect civilization. 
That they are capable of maintaining a republican form of 
government may well be doubted ; but the fact that they have 
made some progress, instead of retrograding like their breth- 
ren in Liberia, entitles them to the respect of the civilized 
world. 

The population of Haiti is about 2,000,000, and its area 
28,249 square miles. The exports of the country consist chiefly 
of coffee, cocoa, cotton, turtle shells, hides, mahogany, and log- 
wood, and have a yearly value of about $13,000,000. 



CHAPTER III 

THE REPUBLIC OF SANTO DOMINGO 

Although the French obtained possession of the western 
portion of the island of Santo Domingo in the seventeenth 
century, the eastern portion was under Spanish control until 
1785. In that year the whole island was ceded to France; 
but in 1806, after the French had been driven out by the 
negroes, Spain once more gained possession of the eastern half 
and retained it for fifteen years. Even through the period 
when Mexico and South America were struggling for inde- 
pendence Spain maintained her authority in this island 
Colony. But the ultimate success of the revolutions near by 
at last made the Santo Domingoans discontented, and in 1821 
they, too, declared themselves independent. At first they 
attached themselves to the newly established Eepublic of 
Colombia and organized their own government, which was 
also republican in character, under its flag and authority ; 
but they soon decided to unite with the neighboring state in 
the western portion of the island. So for twenty years there 
was but one government in the whole island of Santo Do- 
mingo. 

This union, however, was not a natural one. The Haitians 
are blacks, being almost entirely of African descent, and 
speak the French language ; the Santo Domingoans are mostly 
mulattoes and speak Spanish, though French and English are 
used extensively in the cities. Accordingly, the Santo Domin- 
goans grew more and more determined to work out their own 
political destiny ; and in 1844 they revolted and set up their 
own separate government, which they called the Repiiblica 
Dominicana. Ever since then the two States have remained, 
not only separate, but hostile ; and so frequently do they wage 
war upon each other that the middle portion of the island, 
2n 545 



646 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES book v 

where their conflicts occur, has remained an uninhabitable 
wild. 

The independence thus secured by Santo Domingo was not 
to continue unassailed, for the Republic was forced to acknowl- 
edge Spain's supremacy in 1861, when the United States was 
prevented by civil war from interfering. But the Spanish 
usurpation was terminated in 1865, and Santo Domingo has ever 
since maintained its independence. In 1869 it endeavored to 
become a part of the United States, but the Senate of that 
country voted against annexation, and the little Republic was 
obliged to struggle on alone. 

Santo Domingo has great agricultural and mineral resources, 
but lacks the energy and vigor to develop them. The mulat- 
toes of the country are intelligent and not vicious, but they 
are much more indolent than the blacks of Haiti, and are not 
on the road to prosperity and progress. Both the Government 
and the people seem feeble and inefficient. By the Constitu- 
tion the executive power is vested in a President, who is 
chosen for four years by an electoral college, and the legisla- 
tive in a single Chamber of twenty-two deputies who are 
directly elected by a restricted suffrage. For purposes of local 
administration the country is divided into ten districts, each 
of which is under a governor appointed by the President. 
The Roman Catholic religion is recognized by the State, and 
other forms of worship can be practised only under certain 
restrictions. Primary education is by statute free and com- 
pulsory, and higher educational institutions have been estab- 
lished. Trade languishes on account of the customs duties, 
which are excessively high ; but the exports of tobacco, coffee, 
hard woods, and other articles have a yearly value of about 
$2,000,000, and the national income is usually sufficient to 
meet the expenditure. The population of the country is about 
600,000, and its area is a little more than 18,000 square miles. 



CHAPTER IV 

JAPAN 

• The Japanese are probably a mixed race. Koreans, Malays, 
and other surrounding peoples are supposed to have made 
their way into the islands that compose Japan, and to have 
become mingled with the aboriginal race. This race may at 
one time have covered the whole of the islands; but it was 
crowded northward by an invading people that entered from 
the southwest, and its descendants are, it is conjectured, now 
represented chiefly by the Aino tribes of Yezo. The invading 
race, whatever may have been its origin, centred about Kioto, 
in the southwestern part of the island of Honshu, and built 
up an empire whose head was termed the Mikado. Kioto was 
the Mikado's home. Surrounded by his nobles and retainers, 
he lived there in a simple and unpretentious manner and grad- 
ually extended his power. As the aborigines or savages gave 
him much trouble, he was obliged to exalt the military class 
above the agricultural, and to give a large measure of authority 
to the Shogun, or general-in-chief. By the end of the eighth 
century of the Christian era the military had become the 
dominating class in the Empire ; and from that time on its 
power increased, while that of the Mikado seemed to wane. 
Almost inevitably, therefore, the time came when the general 
was able to make his authority supreme. It was Yoritomo, a 
man of great energy and ability, who brought about the change. 
In 1192 he was made Shogun by the Emperor Takahu; and 
from that time on until 1868 the Shogunate was of foremost 
importance in the Empire. By the end of the sixteenth cen- 
tviry it had lost some of its prestige; but its power was re- 
stored by lyeyasu Tokugawa, who was appointed to the office 
in 1603. This remarkable man, who was at once a crafty poli- 
tician and a skilful general, fixed his seat of government at 

547 



548 UNCLASSIFIED COlTNTRIES book v 

Yedo, at the mouth of the rivers which drain the largest plain 
in Japan, enlarged and strengthened his authority, and made 
the office of Shogun hereditary in his family. 

Under his successors Yedo became a great and populous 
city, and the power of the Tokugawa dynasty quite over- 
shadowed that of the Mikado. The latter still maintained 
his court at Kioto and invested each Shogun in office; but, 
though nominally the sovereign of Japan, he never assumed 
the direct control of affairs. Hence the Shoguns of the Toku- 
gawa line found it easy to consolidate their power. lyeyasu 
himself had introduced the feudal system in Japan; his suc- 
cessors gradually and adroitly extended it, until the nobles 
were feudal vassals and the whole country was divided into 
fiefs. These fiefs, which were sometimes of considerable extent, 
were despotically ruled by the nobles, who treated the peasants 
as serfs and frequently subjected them to galling taxation. On 
the other hand, the members of the military class received 
many privileges, and were allowed to wear two swords as a 
mark of distinction. 

This was the system that prevailed in Japan during the first 
half of the nineteenth century. It was not altogether a per- 
nicious system, for it gave Japan two hundred and fifty years 
of peace and moderate prosperity. But it was doomed to 
extinction, for the people were growing restless under its 
exasperating restrictions. While it lasted, Japan was cut 
off from communication with other nations, for the policy 
of the Shogunate was one of utter isolation and seclusion. 
Foreigners were kept out of the country, new ideas were not 
allowed to take root, and the people were placed vmder a 
despicable system of espionage. But in thus declining to 
share the growth of the nineteenth century, the Shogunate 
brought about its own destruction. Its power was on the 
decline, and the Japanese only needed the stimulus of foreign 
intercourse to emancipate themselves from this deadening and 
repressive rule. 

Consequently, the advent of Commodore Perry and his 
squadron in 1853 was not unwelcome to the more enlightened 
portion of the Shogun's subjects. The Shogun himself did not 
venture to repulse the representative of so formidable a power ; 
and though Commodore Perry remained at the Japanese court 



CHAP. IV JAPAN 549 

only a few days, the result of his visit was a commercial alli- 
ance between Japan and the United States, concluded on 
March 31, 1854. Seeing how easily the Shogunate had been 
forced to abandon its policy of exclusion, other nations fol- 
lowed the example of the United States, until sixteen had 
gained like privileges. 

Thus Japan was brought once more within the pale of the 
nations, and the fall of feudalism was made inevitable. For 
the action of the Shogun in opening the country to foreigners 
was distasteful to the Mikado and his adherents, and soon 
brought about a deadly warfare between the court at Kioto 
and that at Yedo. As the daimios, or nobles, were quite gen- 
erally opposed to foreign intercourse, the Mikado used this 
hostility to the Shogun to strengthen his own power. For 
centuries his predecessors had been subservient to the Shogun- 
ate; but he determined to reassert the imperial dignity and 
make himself the centre of authority and influence. Hence, 
his followers began to oppose the Shogun both secretly and 
openly, even resorting to the policy of assassinating his adhe- 
rents that they might thus deprive him of support. Very 
soon, therefore, the Shogun found his position an uncomfor- 
table one. For the great nobles carried their opposition to 
foreigners so far that they did not hesitate to inflict outrages 
upon the vessels of America and other nations. These out- 
rages the Shogun was unable to stop, for the rebellious nobles 
were strong enough to defy his authority. Two of them, the 
Prince of Nagato and the Prince of Satsuma, were especially 
bold and insolent; and the damage they inflicted upon un- 
armed vessels was so serious that it became necessary to sub- 
jugate them by force. The former was temporarily brought 
to terms by a squadron of English, French, and American ves- 
sels, which bombarded his forts, July 15 to 19, 1863. But the 
Prince of Satsuma proved a more stubborn antagonist. Ad- 
miral Kuper of the British navy was directed to subdue him, 
and proceeded with his fleet to the bay of Kagoshima in the 
island of Kiusiu, where the Prince had a castle and other 
strong fortifications. As the Japanese had no thought of 
submitting to a mere display of force, the Prince's strongholds 
were bombarded by the English vessels on August 15 and 16, 
1863, and were almost entirely destroyed. The loss of prop- 



550 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES book v 

erty was estimated at $5,000,000 and about fifteen hundred of 
the Prince's followers were killed and wounded. 

Cowed by this severe experience, the Prince of Satsuma 
ceased to annoy the vessels of other nations, but the anti- 
foreign party in Japan only gained in strength as a result of 
these hostilities, and the Prince of Nagato was inspired to 
commit further outrages. Moreover, the Shogun's government 
refused to fulfil its treaty obligations, and it therefore became 
necessary for the powers that had interests in Japan to over- 
awe the Government by a display of force. Accordingly, an 
allied fleet, which represented Great Britain, France, and 
America, sailed in September, 1864, to the Straits of Shimono- 
seki and attacked the Prince of Nagato's forts. The forts 
returned the enemy's fire, but they were silenced after a 
spirited action which lasted for two days (September 5 and 6), 
and the Prince of Nagato granted all that was demanded by 
the powers. He agreed to open the Straits of Shimonoseki to 
foreign commerce and to treat foreigners civilly ; and he even 
offered to open the ports upon his own territory for trade. 

From this time on Japan fulfilled its treaty obligations and 
placed no serious obstructions in the way of foreign inter- 
course. But the Shogunate lost its prestige in this conflict with 
the powers, and the day of its downfall rapidly drew near. It 
had indeed shown itself weak and inefficient. First assuming 
relations with other nations, it tried to terminate them when 
they roused the antagonism of the Mikado and the nobles; 
but it left the nobles to do the actual fighting, and, when they 
were subdued, its own resistance came promptly to an end. 
Hence the Mikado's party grew in strength and favor, till it 
was able to set the Shogunate aside. This did not happen 
immediately after the close of the conflict with the powers. 
Even when the Shogun died, in 1866, his successor assumed 
the functions of office and maintained his Government at Yedo 
for nearly two years ; for the Mikado, who was born in 1852, 
was too young at this time to be more than the nominal head 
of the Empire. But in 1868 the daimios rose in open rebellion 
against the Shogunate, and after several months of warfare 
they succeeded in establishing the Mikado as the sole reigning 
power in Japan. In November of this year he was proclaimed 
to be of age. 



CHAP. IV JAPAN 551 

It was not as the champions of progress, but rather as reac- 
tionaries, that the Mikado and his party had gained control of 
his affairs, but the force of circumstances soon led them to 
adopt more liberal views. It became apparent to all that 
Japan could not long remain isolated from the world and 
enslaved by the traditions of the past. 

Therefore an era of progress now began, and those political 
ideas which had been effecting revolutions all over the world 
began to take root in Japan. 

As a first step toward a more enlightened policy the Mikado 
moved his court from Kioto, where his predecessors had lived 
in seclusion for so many centuries, and made Yedo his capital. 
Its name, however, was changed to Tokio, that it might not be 
a reminder of the days of the Shogunate. This step taken, 
new life seemed to enter the nation, and both foreign and 
domestic affairs were managed with energy and vigor. In 
1874 the Government sent an expedition to Formosa to punish 
piracy, and in 1879 it annexed the Liu-Kiu Islands in despite 
of China's remonstrances and threats. Korea was also made 
to feel the strong hand of Japan ; for when it violated its con- 
vention with the Japanese Government in 1875 and fired upon 
a Japanese gunboat, a high commissioner was sent into the 
country from Japan, and the Koreans were compelled to grant 
new and important concessions. Again, in 1882, Japan pre- 
pared to make war upon Korea, because eleven members of 
the Japanese legation were killed there in an anti-foreign 
insurrection. But this show of force was sufficient to bring 
Korea to terms, and, receiving such compensation as they 
demanded, the Japanese abandoned hostilities. 

Even in Japan itself the Government found it necessary to 
assert its strength, for in 1877 several of the clans rose against 
the Ministry, and for some months maintained their defiant 
attitude. But they were finally suppressed, and with the 
establishment of order came the introduction of many reforms. 
The postal system was developed, lighthouses were erected, 
railways were put in operation, and a new criminal code was 
enforced. Education received special attention from the Gov- 
ernment, which established a large number of primary schools 
and made attendance compulsory, while all the ports of the 
country were thrown open to foreign trade, and freedom of 



552 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES book v 

worship was granted to all religions. Nor were military- 
matters neglected ; for a conscription law was passed in 1882, 
the army was reorganized, the navy strengthened, and an 
excellent scheme of coast defence was planned and executed. 
The whole nation seemed to be animated by the spirit of prog- 
ress, and these manifold reforms, which brought Japan into 
touch with Europe and America, created a desire for demo- 
cratic institutions. Accordingly, on February 11, 1889, the 
Mikado promulgated a new Constitution, which established 
two parliamentary Houses, the Lords and the Commons, and 
guaranteed full civil and religious liberty. 

With the promulgation of this Constitution the first period 
in the history of modern Japan may be considered to end. 
It was a period of national awakening. The people suddenly 
threw off mediseval habits of mind, and looked to the advanced 
nations of the world for instruction and inspiration. Their 
university at Tokio employed scholars from abroad and pub- 
lished scientific works in English. Japanese students resorted 
to the great universities of England and America. Alpha- 
betical writing was gradually adopted in place of ideographic, 
and even in matters of dress the Japanese began to borrow the 
ways and habits of Western civilization. Indeed, so rapid and 
quiet was the nation's advance that the period has been termed 
" Meiji," Enlightened Peace. 

A more turbulent and exciting period was to follow this 
orderly epoch. During the last decade of the century Japan 
had to face war and to experience profound and significant 
political changes. It was now that the progress of the pre- 
ceding decades bore its full fruitage and gave Japan a place 
among the vigorous nations of the world. For this island 
country was now to show that its armed strength was formida- 
ble, and that in its political development it would not stop 
short of government by and for the people. 

It was in Korea, where Japan had formerly experienced 
trouble, that a cause for war was found. For a formidable 
insurrection against the King's government occurred in that 
country in 1894, and troops were sent there from Japan to 
protect the Japanese legation and consulates. At the same 
time the King of Korea, who acknowledged the suzerainty of 
China, applied to the Chinese Emperor for assistance, and 



CHAP. IV JAPAN 553 

Chinese troops were accordingly sent to his support. This was 
a situation that invited disturbance; but trouble might have 
been avoided if the suggestions of Japan had been adopted. 
Por the Japanese Government proposed that China and Japan 
should together reform the internal administration of Korea, 
and prevent further uprisings against the King. But China 
declined to cooperate toward this end, the Emperor declaring 
that the traditional policy of his country would not allow him 
to interfere with the internal affairs of a vassal state. More- 
over, the King of Korea proved obdurate, for he refused to 
carry out any reforms unless the Japanese troops were with- 
drawn from his domains. As Japan would not accede to this 
proposition, the troops of the two nations remained in Korea 
in dangerous proximity, and only a spark was needed to kindle 
the smouldering embers of hostility into the conflagration of 
war. 

Toward the end of June, 1894, the spark was lighted and 
war came. For the troops of the two nations came into 
collision on land, and on the sea a Chinese transport vessel con- 
taining 1500 soldiers was sunk by Japanese warships. In 
consequence of these actions war was immediately declared, 
and the progressive island State with its 40,000,000 people 
found itself engaged in deadly conflict with the oldest civil- 
ized power in the world. As China had a population of probably 
400,000,000, its resources were supposed to be inexhaustible, 
and the ultimate defeat of Japan was widely predicted. But 
it soon became apparent that the Chinese Empire had little 
strength or solidity. Many portions of it gave the Emperor 
but a nominal allegiance, and, semi-barbarous as they were, 
were not able to supply the army with disciplined and well- 
armed troops. Accordingly, the forces which the Emperor 
could put in the field were not even superior to those of Japan 
in point of numbers, and in equipment, training, and fighting 
strength were decidedly inferior. To the surprise of the 
world, therefore, Japan was victorious on land from the very 
beginning of the war, and on the sea she also vanquished her 
antagonist, though not without severe and bloody conflicts. 
The battle off the Yalu Eiver on September 17 was fiercely 
contested, and, though four Chinese warships were sunk out- 
right, three of the Japanese vessels were badly damaged. 



554 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTKIES book v 

Later in the year the remainder of the Chinese fleet was 
hemmed in at Port Arthur by the Japanese ships, and on 
February 7, 1895, its commander, Admiral Ting, was forced to 
surrender, after losing two of his vessels. As the Japanese 
continued to be almost uniformly victorious on land, China 
found it useless to prolong the struggle, and a treaty of peace 
was signed on April 17, and ratified by the Emperor on the 
4th of the following month. By the terms of the treaty 
China was to surrender the Liao-tung peninsula with Port 
Arthur to her victorious rival, but this advantage Japan was 
obliged to forego on account of the objections that were urged 
by Russia, Germany, and France. But she acquired Formosa 
and the Pescadores Islands, and compelled China to pay a 
large war indemnity and grant a new commercial treaty, 
Korea also profited by the war, for it was now made entirely 
independent of the Chinese Empire. 

That the results of the war were not wholly beneficial to 
Japan the sequel was to show, but the concessions which China 
made brought some substantial advantages. For new ports 
were thrown open to Japan by the revised commercial treaty, 
and Japanese steam vessels were now allowed to navigate the 
Upper Yangtse-Kiang and Woosung rivers. From its fierce 
conflict, moreover, the nation derived important gains that 
were not of a material character ; for it now felt a new sense 
of power, a greater self-confidence, and a strong craving for 
further progress. Japan now counted itself one of the vigor- 
ous and growing powers of the world, and it was anxious to 
put itself on an entire equality with other nations. Even 
before the war a number of reforms were under consideration, 
and some attempts had been made to carry them into effect. 
In particular, new treaties were arranged with Great Britain, 
the United States, and other countries, though they were not 
to become immediately operative. But, while the war lasted, 
the energy of the nation was directed toward military opera^ 
tions, and domestic legislation was comparatively neglected. 

But when the war had been brought to a victorious issue, the 
needed reforms were loudly advocated. The question of local 
self-government was one of the first to receive attention, and 
was solved in a manner suggested by the experiences of demo- 
cratic countries. For the Empire was divided into forty-six 



CHAP. IV JAPAN 566 

districts, each of which had its own governor and its own 
elected assembly. But a more important question than that 
of local administration was that of responsible party govern- 
ment. When the new Constitution was adopted in 1889, Japan 
ceased to be an absolute monarchy ; but absolute and despotic 
ideas of rule were not at once discarded by the Emperor and 
his immediate supporters. Like the King of Holland, the 
Emperor refused to recognize that the majority in a Parlia- 
ment had a right to control the administration of affairs, and 
he therefore persisted in upholding the Prime Minister of his 
choice in spite of adverse votes in the House of Representa- 
tives. It was to the statesmen of the powerful Satsuma and 
Chosen clans that the government was intrusted ; but the rival 
Hizen and Tosa clans commanded a large majority in the 
national Diet. If the representatives of these two clans could 
have worked together consistently against the Government, 
they would very soon have become masters of the situation. 
But this combination they found it difficult to make, for they 
represented two different political parties. The members of 
the Hizen clan counted themselves Progressives, and were under 
the leadership of Count Okuma ; those of the Tosa clan were 
led by Count Itagaki and called themselves Liberals. Both 
the Progressives and the Liberals believed in party govern- 
ment ; but, instead of making this the dominant political issue 
and cooperating to insure its triumph, they each looked for 
advancement and for advantageous political alliances. In No- 
vember, 1895, the Liberals gave their support to Marquis Ito, 
the head of the Cabinet, and their leader. Count Itagaki, 
was accordingly admitted to a Cabinet position. But this action 
of the Liberals caused all the opponents of the Government to 
combine against it, and so formidable did this opposition prove 
that it forced the resignation of the Cabinet in August, 1896, 
the Marquis Ito and his ministers having become unpopular 
through lack of decision in dealing with affairs in Korea and 
Formosa. The opposition, therefore, now came into power, 
and in the new Cabinet, which was formed by Count Matsu- 
gata, Count Okuma, the Progressive leader, received a place. 
But the new Ministry was not in the end more successful than 
its predecessor had been. Abandoning the cause of party 
government which it had zealously advocated, it strove to 



556 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES book v 

maintain itself in power through unprincipled alliances and a 
free use of the spoils system. But in spite of its efforts it was 
overthrown, and in January, 1898, the Marquis Ito returned to 
power. 

These political changes had made it apparent to the Lib- 
erals and Progressives that they must unite if they would 
}nake themselves the dominant force in the politics of the 
country, and secure the triumph of the principle of party gov- 
ernment. Moreover, a special reason for such cooperation was 
soon afforded ; for the Marquis Ito, who had not attempted to 
strengthen his administration by a coalition, was defeated in 
June, 1898, and the House of Representatives was dissolved. 
Accordingly, the Liberals and Progressives now joined their 
forces,^ and the Marquis Ito, seeing the uselessness of contend- 
ing against such a powerful combination, resigned his office 
and recommended the Emperor to recognize the principle of 
party government and to intrust the task of forming a new 
Cabinet to Count Okuma and Count Itagaki. This advice the 
Emperor followed. Count Okuma was made Premier on June 
28, 1898, and the cause of party government, which for nearly 
ten years had been struggling for recognition, seemed at last to 
have triumphed. 

But its triumph proved to be of short duration. The new 
party, composed chiefly of Liberals and Progressives, adopted 
a platform in which it promised to support the popular 
demands for moderate taxation, the maintenance of the Em- 
peror's authority and of the Constitution, the development 
of commerce and industry, and a peaceful foreign policy. 
Moreover, the platform distinctly stated that the Cabinet 
should represent the majority in the Lower House. But hardly 
had the Ministry begun to carry out this liberal programme 
before it encountered serious difficulties. It found itself 
called upon to oppose the spoils system, which had gained an 
unfortunate hold upon the minds of the Japanese politicians, 
and its own members soon showed a lack of harmony, the 
Liberals and the Progressives both standing jealously upon 
their rights. This jealous feeling manifested itself when it 
became necessary to appoint a new Minister of Education in 

1 The party formed by this fusion was called Kinsei-to, or Constitutional 
party. 



CHAP. IV JAPAN 557 

the following October. M. Ozaki, who had been in charge of 
this bureau, was obliged to resign, because he had indiscreetly- 
suggested that Japan might become a Republic. Thereupon 
Count Itagaki demanded that his place be filled by a Liberal ; 
but Count Okuma went secretly to the Emperor and secured 
the appointment of M. Inukai, a member of his own party. 
Over this incident dissension at once arose in the Cabinet, and 
the disagreement was made greater by the financial situation. 
For it was necessary to increase the revenue, and the Liberals 
believed that this should be accomplished by a land tax, 
while the Progressives were opposed to such a measure and 
demanded that an additional tax should be placed on incomes, 
drugs, and spirits. So fierce did the dispute become that the 
Government lost all prestige and influence, and a new adminis- 
tration became necessary. On October 31 the ministers all 
tendered their resignations, and a new Cabinet, independent of 
parties, was formed by the Marquis Yamagata. Under his leader- 
ship the land tax was carried, though the Progressives still 
fought it bitterly, and left the House in a body when they saw 
that they were to be outvoted. Thus the first attempt at party 
government ended in failure, as might, indeed, have been an- 
ticipated by all who understood the conditions under which it' 
was tried. Japan has outgrown feudal institutions, but it has 
not utterly cast off the feudal spirit. For many centuries the 
great clans have exercised a powerful and commanding influ- 
ence over their retainers, and not all at once could the clansmen 
make personal loyalty subservient to political principle. The 
coalition of the Liberals and the Progressives ended in disaster, 
because those who composed it could not put away personal 
ends and petty ambitions for the sake of the larger cause to 
which they were pledged by their political platform. They 
regarded it as the politician in the United States regards finan- 
cial reform and many desirable measures that do not bring 
promotion or emolument. Not by coalitions and combinations, 
therefore, will party government succeed in Japan, but by 
securing the uncompromising adherence of the statesmen and 
voters of the nation.^ 

This parliamentary failure was to some extent atoned for 

1 For an account of this interesting political experiment, consult "Parlia- 
mentary Government in Japan," in the Nineteenth Century for July, 1899. 



558 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES book v 

in tlie following year by a gain in national dignity and by 
increased opportunities for trade. For on July 17, 1899, most 
of the commercial treaties which had been formed in 1894 
became operative, and gave Japan new privileges, new influ- 
ence, and new facilities for commercial growth and expansion. 
The old treaties, which had been negotiated before Japan had 
gained the respect of the world, were indeed most unsatisfac- 
tory both to foreigners and to the Japanese themselves. For 
they stipulated that foreign residents in Japan should be con- 
fined to certain open ports, outside of which they could not 
reside, own property, or engage in trade ; and also that they 
should be amenable to the consul of their own country and 
should not be under Japanese jurisdiction. As a result of 
this system there were more than a dozen different courts in 
Japan before which foreigners who had committed offences 
were brought for trial ; and even the quarantine laws, which 
the Japanese Government passed from time to time for the 
protection of its subjects, were for the most part ignored by 
other powers. Moreover, the foreign residents paid no taxes 
in Japan, as they considered that the country in which they 
lived and enjoyed special privileges had no authority over 
them. But under the new treaties these inequalities and in- 
justices disappeared. The United States, Great Britain, and 
all the leading nations of continental Europe had formed 
treaties with Japan which put their own subjects who lived 
in that country on the same footing as the Japanese them- 
selves. Hence, from this time on foreigners had the same 
privileges and the same obligations as Japanese citizens. 
They could no longer escape taxation, but they enjoyed new 
advantages in that the entire interior of Japan was now open 
to them for residence and trade. 

Altogether, Japan has made remarkable gains since the 
overthrow of the Shogunate, but her national career has not 
been one of uninterrupted progress. Political reforms have 
not been accomplished without serious difficulty, and the 
spoilsman and the adventurer still stand in the way of an 
honest administration of affairs. New problems, moreover, 
are continually arising to tax the resources of the nation's 
statesmen. Formosa has not proved an unmixed gain to thfe 
country, for it is a difficult country to subjugate and hold; 



CHAP. IV JAPAN 659 

nor was the stimulus derived from the war with China alto- 
gether an advantage. Flushed with military success, Japan 
negotiated foreign loans and expended large sums in increas- 
ing her armament ; and yet found to her humiliation that the 
great powers would not consult her in settling the questions 
of the far East. Through these unwise expenditures the 
country became financially embarrassed, and in 1899 a panic 
seemed imminent. Taxation was oppressive, industries lan- 
guished, and the new commercial treaties could not at once 
bring relief. The history of the past few decades warrants 
the belief that the nation will find a way out of its difficulties 
and will have a great and brilliant future. But strange are 
the vicissitudes of history^ and who can say what the twentieth 
century will bring forth for this interesting island Empire ? 

Japan is made up of those islands which compose the archi- 
pelago of Niphon. Four large islands belong to the archipelago, 
Yezo, Honshu, Kiushiu, and Shikoku; and Formosa and the 
Pescadores Islands are also included in it, since they were 
ceded to Japan by China in 1895. Japan has an area of 
150,000 square miles and a population of above 40,000,000. 
The Constitution adopted in 1889 vests the executive power in 
the Emperor and his ministers, and gives him also legislative 
power so far as may be sanctioned by the Diet. The Diet, 
or national Parliament, is, like the legislatures of most coun- 
tries that have constitutional government, composed of two 
Houses, an Upper and a Lower. The Upper House is termed 
the House of Peers, and contains two distinct classes of mem- 
bers : (1) Peers elected for life, and (2) Peers elected for seven 
years. The life Peers include male members of the imperial 
family, princes and marquises above twenty-five years of age, 
and eminent citizens nominated by the Emperor. Of the 
elected Peers there are two classes, chosen in two entirely 
different ways. For the counts, viscounts, and barons of the 
Empire are respectively entitled to elect one fifth of their 
order, though the ones so elected must be above twenty-five 
years of age, while the various districts of the country are 
represented in the House of Peers by members who are chosen 
indirectly by the highest taxpayers. Altogether, the Peers 
number about three hundred members who are elected directly 



560 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES book v 

by male citizens who are above twenty-five years of age, who 
pay a national tax of fifteen yen yearly, and who have resided 
in their districts for at least one year. The annual revenue of 
Japan is about $125,000,000 and its debt is a little less than 
$400,000,000. Its financial condition may be considered pros- 
perous in spite of present embarrassments, for, owing to the 
rapid growth of its manufacturing industries, its imports tend 
to diminish and its exports to increase. 



CHAPTER V 



Not having received a Constitution, India cannot be classed 
with those British Colonies which are experiencing an advanced 
political development. Yet is it true that the country is receiv- 
ing no political development at all ? An Oriental race, keen, 
fanciful, liery, watchful, and vindictive, bows before the supe- 
rior might of a great European power, and from that power 
it receives daily lessons in the methods of establishing order 
and justice throughout a vast domain. Does it profit by its 
lessons and is it acquiring the art of self-government? Or 
is it so bound hand and foot by the dominant race that it can 
only chafe and revile its masters even while it renders them 
obedience ? These are the questions that suggest themselves 
to the students of British India, and they are not easily an- 
swered. It would be impossible to answer them fully in this 
brief survey, but some thoughts will be presented that may 
help toward a solution. 

First of all, it is necessary to consider the government of 
India and see how far it recognizes the right of the Hindus to 
a voice in the management of their own affairs. At its head 
is the Governor-General, the chief executive authority, who 
represents the Crown. Assisted by a council of five or six 
members appointed by the Crown, he makes laws for all per- 
sons in the country, whether they be British, native, or foreign. 
The actual task of governing, however, falls chiefly upon the 
Secretary of State, who is assisted by a council of not less 
than ten members. Over all those portions of India that are 
strictly British territory this central Government, through its 
own appointed officials, exercises direct control. But there 
are feudatory States which are governed by their own native 
princes, ministers, or councils, with the help of a British resi- 
2 o 561 



562 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES book v 

dent of&cial, who sees that the native heads do not overstep 
certain restrictions by which Great Britain's suzerainty is 
firmly maintained. Thus it appears that the central Govern- 
ment keeps a firm hold upon the whole country, while it gives 
to the native princes as much authority as they can safely be 
allowed to exercise. 

But in local affairs and in the administration of justice the 
British Government gives a fuller recognition to the rights of 
the natives. For in 1882-84 Local Self-Government Acts were 
passed, which have so extended the franchise that the gov- 
erning bodies of the towns are now largely made up of native 
Hindus, and while the high and superior courts of the country 
are in English hands, the magistrates and civil judges who 
exercise jurisdiction in the lower courts are also native to a 
very considerable extent. 

Thus it appears that Great Britain does not govern its vast 
Indian dependency despotically, but endeavors to educate 
the Hindus in self-government by throwing upon them the 
task of managing their own local affairs and of controlling the 
lower and simpler processes of law and justice. A great 
change, indeed, has been effected in England's policy toward 
India since the control of the country was taken from the 
East India Company in 1858. While that control lasted, this 
vast and rich domain was governed in the interests of a few 
privileged Englishmen. Now, however, England's treatment 
of the Hindus is so liberal that the following characterization 
of it may be considered fairly correct : ^ " We give them oppor- 
tunities for local self-government; we open to them appoint- 
ments in the Indian Civil Service, and place on them all the 
responsibility they can bear. We do not expect to assimilate 
them or make them English ; we offer them the opportunity 
for development in every way ; we only deny them the power 
to oppress and misgovern one another." 

Consequently, seeing the great and undoubted benefits of 
British rule, many intelligent and fair-minded Hindus are not 
discontented under this alien government. They believe that 
it must sometime cease, but consider its immediate overthrow 
undesirable ; and they uphold it with hearty and ungrudging 
loyalty. And yet the country is full of malcontents, and the 
1 "English Imperialism," by William Cunningham, Atlantic Monthly, 84: 1. 



CHAP. V INDIA 563 

British are as fiercely hated by some as they are cordially sup- 
ported by others. Ever and anon do the great English news- 
papers comment upon the hostile tone of the native press in 
India, and intimate that it should be placed under restrictions. 
And it must be admitted that the Hindus have reason to dis- 
like the foreign yoke they bear. For, however wisely they are 
governed, the fact remains that they are not their own masters, 
and are not making their own contribution to the civilization 
and progress of the world. Eepressed and held in restraint 
by a stern and unsympathetic regime, they have lost their 
spontaneity and their natural creative impulse. Their fancy 
and imagination do not have free play. Neither art nor liter- 
ature is greatly enriched by their ill-regulated yet undoubted 
mental powers. 

The truth is, the English are by nature unfitted to win the 
affections of a fanciful and dreamy Oriental people. For the 
English temper is arrogant, hard, stubborn, practical, and 
unimaginative. Endowed with a genius for government, the 
Englishman has scant respect for races which have no capacity 
for politics and no aptitude for progress. Cynicism is his 
mental attitude toward subject peoples. And this cynicism is 
the dominant characteristic in his dealings with the Hindus. 
The English in India have become a caste, and no caste was 
ever more narrow, dogmatic, and intolerant. They have their 
own fixed opinions upon Indian affairs, and to disiJute the cor- 
rectness of them is to excite their vindictive resentment. 
They do not brook independence of thought. They persecute 
all who venture to contradict them. And yet their opinions 
are not only incorrect in many particulars, but are antiquated 
and perverse. For in their devotion to everything Mohamme- 
dan they even uphold the Turk in his wars and barbarities, 
and they hold in abhorrence the administration of Lord Ripon, 
who was one of the most scrupulously just and honorable vice- 
roys that India ever had.^ 

What, then, is to be said of the contact of these two incon- 
gruous races? Is India really benefiting by a rule which 
arouses her antipathy ? That she is well governed cannot be 
denied. Law and order reign throughout her wide domains as 

1 Consult "The Anglo-Indian Creed" in the Contemporary Revieiu for 
August, 1899. 



564 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES book v 

they never could have reigned through the efforts of her native 
peoples. And from such an efficient and well-ordered rule the 
Hindus must inevitably acquire new standards of political con- 
duct. But, chafing under the haughty and unbending domin- 
ion of a people whom they hate, they can hardly put on more 
than a veneer of civilization ; and their longing to live their 
own life seems wholly natural and justifiable. 



CHAPTER VI 

SIAM 

In the year 1868 this minor Asiatic State passed under the 
sway of a liberal and progressive ruler, King Chulalongkorn. 
Unlike the typical Asiatic sovereign, this kindly and upright 
King refused to be bound by the traditions of the past, and 
endeavored to improve and elevate the condition of his sub- 
jects. He was by no means hostile to the spirit of Western 
civilization, and, as opportunity offered, he introduced radical 
and startling innovations. A striking proof of his sympathy 
with modern ideas was his abolition of the custom of prostra- 
tion in the royal presence. For his subjects were allowed to 
stand erect before him instead of lying prone at his feet. He 
also showed appreciation of the value of education, and by his 
sanction and encouragement a college for princes and a royal 
school for girls were established in Bangkok in 1893. 

But the closing years of the century found King Chulalong- 
korn a saddened and disappointed man, and his kingdom not 
greatly improved because of his enlightened efforts. He had 
indeed suffered many and severe discouragements. Domestic 
bereavements had tried him sorely, and the aggressions of the 
French were a bitter blow to his pride. For in 1893 France 
forced him into a war and robbed him of territory that con- 
tained over a hundred thousand square miles and three million 
inhabitants. But the worst obstacles to his progress as a 
reforming monarch lay in himself and in the character of his 
country and his people. For " laisser-faire is essentially engen- 
dered not only by the climate but by the religion of the coun- 
try." ^ The climate during the greater part of the year is hot, 
stifling, and excessively damp, so that sustained exertion is 
almost impossible. And, as if this natural condition were not 

1 Contemporary Review, 71 : 884. 
665 



566 UNCLASSIFIED COUNTRIES book v 

enough to destroy enterprise, the Buddhist religion has done 
its utmost to create apathy and indifference to all things, for 
it prescribes Nirvana as the highest happiness, and non-resist- 
ance as the highest law of life. Hence the atmosphere that 
pervades hovel and palace alike is that of quietude and self- 
indulgence. The King himself has not been able to escape its 
vitiating influence, but has led the easy and pleasure-loving 
life that characterizes the Asiatic potentate. His palace 
swarms with princes who grow up to be weaklings and who 
must be supported in indolence by the State. The court, 
therefore, is by no means a centre of activity ; and the King, 
though he has autocratic power, has not the energy to master 
the details of administration. Necessarily, he leaves the 
actual task of governing very largely to his ministers, and 
these ministers are as lethargic, as dilatory, and as hostile to 
innovations as the Oriental official has always shown himself 
from ancient times to the present day. Moreover, some of 
them are exceedingly corrupt, and what they do to forward 
new enterprises they do only after receiving bribes. 

It is obvious, then, that however enlightened and progressive 
King Chulalongkorn may be, reforms must come slowly in a 
country so buried in sloth and self-satisfaction. And of 
political development there is indeed no evidence. Such 
changes as come are of an external character and do not show 
any awakening of the people. The modern inventions have 
been introduced; but, although the King approves of such 
signs of progress, these innovations are due almost entirely 
to the enterprise of foreign residents. It is the busy and 
restless European that has carried the typical products of 
Western civilization into this sleepy Asiatic State ; and to 
him chiefly was it due that in 1897 Siam had 179 miles of 
steam railway, 3 780 miles of electric telegraph lines, and a 
number of electric lighting plants. But the people of the 
country look with such disapproval upon these modern con- 
veniences that it is difficult to make them profitable and to 
extend their use; and when they fall under native manage- 
ment, as happens when the State takes them under its con- 
trol, they are often abandoned through sheer indolence.^ 

1 Much that is now written about Siam is misleading, as it gives exag- 
gerated importance to the reforms and improvements which the King and 



CHAPc VI SIAM 567 

Accordingly, Siaru cannot be considered progressive in the 
same sense in which that word is applied to Japan. It is 
making no growth toward democracy ; and it is worthy of 
study, not because it is having a political awakening, but 
because it illustrates the difficulties of engrafting Western 
institutions upon Asiatic civilization. Japan actually borrows 
and assimilates Western ideas and politics ; the rest of Asia 
must receive its growth after the manner of Siberia, India, or 
Siam. Through conquest or through commercial enterprise 
these vast and populous districts, with their dreamy and 
languorous life, will echo with the hum of Western industry, 
and will witness the inevitable spread of Western ideas. But 
the East will remain unchanged in thought and temper, even 
though its territory is invaded on every hand. Even as it out- 
lived the dominion of Macedon and Eome,^ it will resist the 
encroachments of modern civilization with passive yet indomi- 
table strength. 

others have attempted to introduce. The true condition of affairs and the 
obstacles in the way of progress are shown in Blackwood's Magazine, 159 : 461 ; 
Contemporary Review, 64:1; and the article in the Contemporary (71:884) 
already referred to. 

1 The brooding East with awe beheld 
Her impious younger world. 
The Roman tempest swell'd and swell'd, 
And on her head was hurl'd. 

The East bow'd low before the blast 
In patient, deep disdain ; 
She let the legions thunder past, 
And plunged in thought again. 

— Matthew Arnold, "Obermann Once More." 



CONCLUSION 

In this brief survey of the political changes wrought during 
the nineteenth century it has been impossible to do much more 
than to present essential facts. As in the old Greek tale, the 
curtain is the picture. The facts speak for themselves and 
tell their own story. They show how, all over the civilized 
world, the people have wrested Constitutions from their rulers, 
taken the government into their own hands, and controlled 
affairs through their chosen representatives. Becoming thus 
their own masters, they have thrown off the burdens that had 
oppressed them for centuries. The legislation of the last hun- 
dred years has largely been of a reformatory character. It 
has been a persistent and long-continued effort to give to the 
common people the rights that had so long been withheld from 
them. Broadly characterized, this legislation may be said to 
have had three distinct and notable tendencies : to educate the 
masses, to enfranchise them, and to relieve them from poverty 
and suffering. Ever since civilization began, the untrained 
and ignorant have felt the tyranny of stronger minds. In 
ancient times they were subjected to cruel slavery. In the 
middle ages they suffered from an almost equally cruel serf- 
dom. In modern times they have been crushed beneath the 
merciless exactions of capital. Thus civilization is the story 
of a struggle, throughout which the survival of the fittest 
has been the dominant law. In the nineteenth century the 
struggle culminated. Realizing their strength, the masses 
asserted themselves and forced from reluctant governments 
the weapons that would enable them to continue the endless 
struggle on more equal terms. 

But, since the tide of conflict has turned somewhat in their 
favor, two interesting questions have arisen and claimed the 
attention of thoughtful minds. Have the weapons thus gained 
been wisely used ? And is the long conflict of the centuries 

568 



CONCLUSION 669 



likely to cease? Each of these questions calls for a brief 
consideration. 

The weapons bestowed by democracy cannot, in the nature 
of things, be handled with perfect skill. In a democracy the 
people become their own rulers, and their essay at government 
will always reflect their own crudity, narrowness, self-suffi- 
ciency, and unsteadiness of purpose. And the more perfect 
the democracy, the more certain is this to be the case. The 
German Empire gives universal suffrage, but such is the force 
of prestige and tradition that the legislators of the nation are 
largely swayed by the men who are fitted to lead and by the 
government itself. The conditions are dissimilar in France; 
yet there, too, the people assert themselves so little that the 
government rules autocratically, and year after year and dec- 
ade after decade supports an aggressive and truculent mili- 
tarism. But in the United States the people, in spite of the 
caucus and the primary, make their will felt in the statute- 
book. To a very considerable extent they shape and control 
legislation ; and this legislation reflects the tone of the aver- 
age mind. It lacks statesmanlike breadth. It is destructive 
rather than constructive in character. It consists of petty 
and annoying regulations rather than of the enunciation of 
great principles. Some of the provisions of the different tariff 
laws are absurdly unpractical and irrational. 

And yet this legislation is worthy of respect. Sometimes 
it is the mere product of a corrupt lobby ; but sometimes it 
reveals the honest efforts of undisciplined minds to discover 
the truth. And if it is faulty, narrow, and crude, where is the 
perfect code with which it may be compared ? Did legislators 
show consummate wisdom before the days of constitutional- 
ism ? Rather did they rule so atrociously that the people 
swept them aside and chose their own representatives to make 
laws and redress grievances. And if statesmen have disap- 
peared from the political arena, they have not by any means 
disappeared from national life. Strong, able, and original 
minds are considering the great questions of the day and 
arriving at well-reasoned conclusions regarding them. The 
opinions of such thinkers can hardly fail in the end to exert 
a wide influence and to affect legislation. Parliaments may 
not of themselves discover wise methods of taxation. But if 



570 CONCLUSION 



the principles that should govern taxation are enunciated by 
master minds, they may in time find expression in the statute- 
book. Similarly, legislators that are usually governed by self- 
ish motives may be forced to obey the awakened moral sense 
of tlie people. Civil service reform would never have come 
about in the United States if Congress had not bowed to the 
demands of the nation for a pure and efficient management of 
public affairs. 

It may fairly be claimed, then, that the self-governing coun- 
tries of the world have proved the worth of democratic insti- 
tu.tions. If the people have not used their new-found weapons 
with consistent wisdom, they have yet used them for good 
rather than for ill. In the countries where the people have 
most power there is often found the greatest prosperity and 
contentment. In England, Switzerland, New Zealand, Aus- 
tralia, and the United States there is free expression of opin- 
ion, enlightened public sentiment, and an absence of that 
unwise repression which drives political diseases below the 
surface and makes the currents of national life impure. Even 
in the turbulent South American States we see growth, devel- 
opment, and progress. The people there allow despotic leaders 
to control them, instead of maintaining the integrity of their 
Constitutions. Yet some of these States have made a marvel- 
lous advance in the course of three quarters of a century. 
Education has been encouraged, commerce developed, and a 
civilization of an admirable type has slowly come into being. 
It was through democratic institutions that the Spanish- 
American peoples had to learn the meaning and nature of 
political responsibilities. They have learned their lesson very 
imperfectly, but they have learned it better by far than they 
ever could have done if they had been subjected to a strong 
and efficient foreign rule, which would have earned their hatred 
even while it gave them order and settled peace. 

That countries like Holland, Sweden, and Denmark are more 
efficiently governed than most of the Spanish-American Re- 
publics is not to be denied. But comparisons between coun- 
tries that have had such a widely different political experience 
are apt to be misleading. The one essential fact in regard to 
each and every one of these States is, that in differing ways 
and in differing degrees the people have claimed the right 



CONCLUSION 571 



to be their own masters, and have made a galling and unjust 
tyranny impossible for any length of time. Revolution is the 
bane of stable governments, but it is also the bane of the 
despot. It is one of the people's weapons. If they have often 
used it wantonly and wickedly, they have also used it from 
time to time with good effect. It was through revolution that 
France dealt absolutism its death-blow. 

Let the people have the credit, then, of wielding their tre- 
mendous powers for the good of civilization and progress. If 
they have been tearing down, they will yet build up. The 
day of statesmen is said to have gone by, but it is too soon to 
make such an assertion. Only a generation has passed since 
Lincoln gained an almost unparalleled ascendency over a 
whole people. Only a short time has elapsed since the death 
of Gladstone, who was the author of more numerous humane 
and liberal measures than any English statesman that ever 
lived. And even though the teiidencies of the age are critical 
and analytical rather than constructive, it is not fair to say 
as yet that republican institutions cannot bring forth new 
leaders as great as these. Bismarck grew out of the severe 
and repressive regime of German despotism. The spirit of 
freedom is surely much more likely to produce, as they are 
needed, "nature's masterful great men." And under their 
leadership democracy may take new strides toward a well- 
ordered political life. 

The second question that was raised is more easily answered. 
A mere glance at the political world of to-day is sufficient to 
show that democracy has brought no cessation to the strife of 
the ages. It has changed the conditions of the conflict, but 
not its essential character. Now that the masses have tasted 
power and measured their strength, they have become more 
ambitious, more grasping, more aggressive. With them, as 
with mankind the world over, attainment brings no satisfac- 
tion. No matter how much is won, it is possible to win still 
more. Hence, every acquisition becomes a source of tempta- 
tion rather than a source of contentment. Compared with the 
working classes of other countries, the American laborers may 
be said to be happy, prosperous, and contented. Yet, partially 
no doubt through the mischievous influence of " walking dele- 
gates/' they are continually clamoring for more. They wish 



572 CONCLUSION 



shorter hours, higher wages, and the right to dictate to capital 
the terms upon which every industry is to be conducted. 

Nor is this sj)irit of self-seeking confined to the wage-earners. 
It is shared by the people of moderate means who view with 
dislike the accumulation of colossal fortunes. Through the 
discontent that exists among people of this class — a discontent 
that is often founded upon intelligent convictions rather than 
upon envious and malignant feelings — arises a persistent and 
relentless warfare upon capital. The legislatures abound in 
communistic spirits who believe that the regeneration of 
society can only be accomplished by placing all industries 
under State control. 

Thus the wage-earners and the small property-owners work, 
either separately or conjointly, against further accumulations 
of capital. In short, they attack private ownership, and this 
attack makes the large holders of vested interests unite in self- 
defence. And their union is a formidable one. So enormous 
are the returns of well-conducted business ventures that the 
men of the largest brain power and the widest resources are 
attracted to the field of industrial and commercial enterprise. 
Finding themselves assailed, these men combine to protect 
themselves ; and the powers they have used to acquire colossal 
fortunes they now use to preserve them. They are vastly 
outnumbered, but the combat is not an unequal one. For, 
first of all, the capitalist has his own wealth to fall back upon 
and to support him in time of need, while the workman's very 
poverty soon drives him to the wall. But more than this, the 
capitalist has the disciplined, far-reaching intelligence, which 
makes him the more perfect type in the great struggle for 
existence. He is more highly developed and therefore better 
fitted to survive. And survive he does, while the man of 
strong arm and honest but narrow brain goes down in the 
fight. 

Such are the conditions under which the long struggle 
between the classes now goes on, and seems likely to go on 
without cessation. It is difficult to see that the growth of 
democracy has abated this stubborn warfare. In the greatest 
democracy the world has ever seen, the last decade of the 
century witnessed vested interests arrayed against labor in a 
fierce struggle for supremacy. For, as has been elsewhere 



CONCLUSION 573 



pointed out, the presidential election of 1896 meant nothing 
else than this. 

And this struggle will be endlessly repeated. Neither the 
cooperative movement nor State socialism can ever bring it to 
an end. Let the wage-earners become profit-sharers just so 
far as they can ; they have a right to all they can fairly win. 
And let the State assume control of all enterprises it can 
manage better than the individual. But however much these 
movements grow and spread, they cannot change the funda- 
mental conditions of human life. A world that teems with 
riches invites conquest. To brute force assisted by human 
invention it yields up its treasures in bewildering profusion. 
But no sooner has it yielded them up than the struggle for 
possession begins. It is an absorbing and a furious struggle, 
for the rewards of victory are great. Accordingly, it brings 
all the powers and resources of the human mind into play. 
No perfectly devised scheme of distribution, no artificial struc- 
ture of society can ever bring this exciting contest to an end. 
There is an arena; there are the prizes. Combatants will 
never be wanting until the auri sacra fames is banished from 
the human heart. The moment that profit-sharing became 
universal, there would be a reaction against it. The more 
completely State socialism became established, the more surely 
would its structure crumble away. The saying of the Roman 
poet, that nature will not yield to force,^ is as true of the 
human, as it is of the inanimate, world. 

But surely this great conflict is best waged under popular 
government. When the people truly rule, they cannot be 
oppressed. The only burdens they carry will be those they 
put upon themselves. And these burdens may indeed be 
heavy ones. Through absurd and fantastic legislation they 
may cripple trade, make capital unproductive, vitiate the cur- 
rency, and bring distress to the poor man, whom above all they 
wish to help. But through mistakes and failures will come a 
more perfect knowledge. Gradually it will be seen that legis- 
lation is not a cure for poverty ; and a nation can afford to 

1 The phrase is borrowed from the well-knowu lines of Horace {Ep. I., 
10 : 24, 25) : 

Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret 
Et mala perrumpet f urtim f astidia victrix. 



574 CONCLUSION 



make costly errors to learn this lesson. It is a lesson that 
never can be learned in countries that are governed by a privi- 
leged class. In such countries there will be seething discon- 
tent among the masses, who will attribute all their ills to the 
selfishness of their rulers. But in a democracy the people 
must see in time that tli£ warfare of the classes is not due to 
governmental oppression. And such knowledge should go far 
toward removing the bitterness that has characterized this 
unceasing conflict. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



GENERAL WORKS 

BIBLIOGRAPHHiS : Langlois : Manuel de Bibliographie historique. 

— Monod : Bibliographie de Vhistoire de France. — Sonnenschein : 
A Header's Guide. — Oettinger : Bibliographie Biographique Univcrselle. 

— Annales de Geographie : Bibliographie 06 igraphique Annuelle. — 
Cory, William : Guide to Modern English History. — Hart and Chan- 
ning : Guide tn the Study of American History. — Peabody Institute 
Library of Baltimore : Printed catalogue contains valuable bibliogra- 
phies under the names of countries. 

HISTORIES : Alison, Sir Archibald : History of Europe from 
1789-1815, 13 vol., 1840-42 ; from 1815-52, 8 vol., 1852-59 ; and more 
recent editions. Carefully done; Tory in its sympathies. — Miiller, 
Wilhelm : Political History of Recent Times, 1882. Spirited ; interest- 
ing ; lacks proportion. — Bulle, Constantin : Geschichte der neuesten 
Zeit, 1886. — Oncken, Wilhelm : Allgemeine Geschichte. A popular 
work in thirty-six volumes written by a number of specialists. Publica- 
tion begun in 1878. Volumes 1-6 in Series IV., which treat of the nine- 
teenth century, are of recent date. — Fyffe, C. A. : A History of 3Iodern 
Europe, new ed., 1896, 3 vol. in one. Narrative terse but interesting. 
One of tne best works for the period it covers. — Lowell, A. Lawrence : 
Governments and Parties of Continental Europe 2 vol., 1896. Indispen- 
sable to the student of political history. — Seignobos, C. H. : Histoire 
Politique de VEurope Contemporaine, 1897. A work of sound scholar- 
ship, written in a scientific spirit. English translation (1899) contains an 
index. — Andrews, Charles M. : The Historical Development of Modern 
Europe, 2 vol., 1898. Valuable ; does not give references to authorities. 

GENERAL WORKS OF REFERENCE : Larned's History for 
Ready Reference : 5 vol. Composed of extracts from many authors. 
Avery useful compilation. — Lalor's Cyclopaedia of Political Science, 

Note. Original sources are not indicated in the case of countries whose 
languages are not generally read. For such information the bibliographies 
should be consulted. Memoirs and Letters, though they may fairly be 
considered original sources, are, for the sake of convenience, classed with 
biographies. The works mentioned are arranged, not alphabetically, but 
chronologically, according to the date of their publication. The English 
translation of a foreign work is almost invariably mentioned in preference to 
the original. 

575 



576 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Political History, and United States History : 3 vol. — Larousse's 
Grand Dictionnaire Universel du XIX Si^cle : Comprehensive. In- 
formation detailed and minute. — Encyclopaedia Britannica : Historical 
and biographical monographs mostly V4rritten by specialists, and valu- 
able. — Haydn's Dictionary of Dates. — Harper's Book of Facts. — 
Ploetz's Epitome of Universal History. — Heilprin's Historical 
Reference Book. — The Annual Register. Since 1758. — Appleton's 
Annual Cyclopaedia. Since 1861. — Revue Encyclop^dique. Issued 
annually since 1891. — The Statesman's Year-Book. Since 1861. — 
Other Year-Books; as Annuaire Statistique de la France; Hand- 
buch fiir das Deutsche Reich; Annuario Statistica Italiano. — 
Whitaker's Almanac. Since 1869. — Hazell's Annual. Since 1886. 
Gives a valuable summary of the proceedings of the more important legis- 
lative and parliamentary bodies the world over. — The Politician's 
Hand-Book. Since 1899. Extremely useful. 

BIOGRAPHICAL WORKS : Thomas : Universal Pronouncing 
Dictionary of Biography and Mythology, 1886. — Sanders : Celebrities 
of the Century, 1887. —Ward: Men of the Reign, 12th ed., 1887. — 
Vapereau : Dictionnaire Universel des Contemporains, 6th ed., 1893. — 
Plarr: Men and Women of the Time, 14th ed., 1895. — Camden Pratt: 
People of the Period, 1897. — Appleton : Cyclopcedia of American Biog- 
raphy. Useful for Mexico, Central and South America, as well as for the 
United States. — Stephen and Lee : Dictionary of National Biography 
(English). Nearly completed. — Liliencron and Wegele : Allgemeine 
Deutsche Biographie. Not completed. 

GEOGRAPHICAL WORKS AND ATLASES : Freeman : His- 
torical Geography of Europe. Vol. L, text ; Vol. II., atlas. New 
edition, 1882. — Himly : Histoire de la Formation territoriale des etats 
de V Europe Centrale, 2d ed., 1890. — Hertslet : Map of Europe by 
Treaty, 1814-1891. — Vivien de Saint-Martin: Nouveau Dictionnaire 
de Geographic Universelle, 7 vol., 1879-95. Information detailed and com- 
plete. — Reclus : The Earth and its Inhabitants, 19 vol., 1886-95. — 
Stanford : Compendium of Geography and Travel, 8 vol. Publication 
begun in 1882. Some works in the series have been recently revised. — 
Poole : Historical Atlas of Modern Europe. All the parts not yet issued. 
— Schrader : Atlas de Geographic Historique. — Droysen : Allgemeine, 
Historischer Hand-Atlas. — Mill, H. R. (Editor): The International 
Geography, 1900. 

GENEALOGIES: Lorenz : Genealogisches Handbuch der Europd- 
ischen Staatengeschichte. — Grote : Stammtafeln. — George : Genea- 
logical Tables Illustrative of Modern History. — Convenient, and for 
ordinary use, adequate Tables are contained in H. Morse Stephens's 
Lectures on Modern History ; and, for the French royal lines, in the 
StudenVs History of France. — Genealogies may be traced in the Alma- 
nach de Gotha (since 1764) ; and many questions of descent and relation- 
ship may be settled by the aid of Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, or The 
Statesman's Year-Book. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 577 



POLITICAL, HISTORICAL, AND ECONOMIC REVIEWS 

ENGLISH : Edinburgh Review. Since 1802. — Quarterly Re- 
view. Since 1809. — Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. Since 
1817. — Westminster Review. Since 1824. — Spectator (weekly). 
Since 1828. — Saturday Review (weekly). Since 1855. — Contempo- 
rary Review. Since 1860. — Fortnightly Review. Since 1865. — 
Nineteenth Century. Since 1877. — Historical Review. Since 1886. 

— Speaker (weekly). Since 1889. — Economic Review. Since 1891. 

— Economic Journal. Since 1891. 

AMERICAN: North American Review. Since 1815. — The 
Nation (weekly). Since 1865. — American Law Review. Since 
1866. — Magazine of American History. Since 1877. — Forum. 
Since 1886. — Political Science Quarterly. Since 1886. — Quarterly 
Journal of Economics. Since 1887. — Current History. Since 1891. 
— Journal of Political Economy. Since 1893. — Historical Review^. 
Since 1895. 

GERMAN AND FRENCH : Among the more important are : His- 
torische Zeitschrift. Since 1859. — Revue des Deux Mondes. 
Since 1831. — Revue des Questions Historique. Since 1866. — Revue 
Historique. Since 1876, — Revue Politique et Parlementaire. 
Since 1894. 

WORKS ISSUED IN SERIES : Story of The Nations. The 
volumes of this series for the most part give a very meagre treatment of 
the nineteenth century ; but a few of them, which have been duly noticed 
under the proper head, are serviceable. — Public Men of To-day. Use- 
ful. — Questions of the Day. A very timely series of volumes. — Johns 
Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science. 

— Columbia University Studies in Political Science. — Annals of 
the American Academy of Political and Social Science (Philadel- 
phia). 

WORKS ON SOCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, AND ECONOMIC SUBJECTS* 

Jevons, W. Stanley : Methods of Social Beform, 1883. — Graham, 
W. A. : The Social Problem, 1886. — Rae, John : Contemporary Social- 
ism, 1891. — Marx, Carl: Capital; or The Students Marx, by Edward 
Aveling, 1892. — Ely, Richard : Socialism and Social Beform, 1894. — 
Kidd, Benjamin : Social Evohition, 1894. — Nitti, Francesco S. : 
Catholic Socialism, 1895. — M'Kechnie, William Sharp -.The State and 
the Individual, 1896. — Zenker, E. V. : Anarchism, Its History and 
Theory, 1897. — Sombart, Werner : Socialism and the Social Move- 
ment in the Nineteenth Ceiitury, 1898. Valuable. — Mallock, W. H. : 
Aristocracy and Evolution, 1898. 

1 As these subjects are vitally connected with political growth and progress, 
a few works that treat of them are mentioned. But it is impossible to make 
so brief a list fairly representative. 
2p 



578 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Jones, Benjamin: Cooperative Frodiiction, 1894. — Webb, Sidney 
and Beatrice : Trade Unionism, 1894 ; Industrial Democracy, 1«99. — 
Lloyd, H. D. : Labor Co-partnership, 1898. — Menger, Anton: The 
Bight to the Whole Produce of Labor, 1899. — Smart, William: The 
Distribution of Licome, 1899. — GUman, N. P. : ^ Dividend to Labor, 
190(). —Clark, J. B. : The Distribution of Wealth, 19U0. 

Walker, F. A.: Political Economy, 1888. — Bohm-Bawerk, Eugen 
F. : Capital and Interest, 1890. The theory of interest here presented 
attracted much attention. — Marshall, Alfred : Principles of Economics, 
2 vol., 1890. Important. — Rand, Benjamin (Compiler): Selections 
Illustrating Economic History since the Seven Years^ War, 1892. — 
Patten, Simon N. : The Economic Basis of Protection, 1895. One of 
the most notable of the works that defend protection. — Dunbar, C. F. : 
Currency, Finance and Banking, Revised edition, 1896. — Plehn, C. C. : 
Introduction to Public Finance, 1896. — Seligman, E. R. A. : Essays 
in Taxatioyi, 1897. — Daniels, W. M. : Elements of Public Finance, 
1900. — Ely, Richard T. : Monopolies and Trusts, 1900. — Gxmton, 
George : Trusts and the Public, 1900. 



FRANCE 

SOURCES : Archives Parliamentaires. A full record of parlia- 
mentary proceedings. Volume LXXV. brought the record down to 
1834. — Annales, published annually since 1861, gives the doings of the 
legislative bodies that have existed under the various governments. — 
Le Journal des D^bats Politiques et Litt^raires. In its 111th 
year in 1899. — Bulletin des Lois; Bulletin de Statistique et de 
Legislation Compar^e ; Statistique Agricole Annuelle, and other 
official publications. 

HISTORIES: (1) GENERAL: Crowe, E. E. : The History of 
France, in 5 vol. Brings the narrative to 1851. — Martin, Henri : His- 
toire de France de 1789 a nos jours, 8 vol., 1878-1885. — Jervis, W. 
K. : The Student's History of France, revised ed., 1884. — Duruy, 
Victor: History of France, 1889. 

(2) SPECIAL : Lowell, E. J. : The Eve of the French Bevolution, 
1892. — Taine, H. A. : The Ancient Begime, 1876 ; The French Bevolu- 
tion, 3 vol., 1878-1885 ; The Modern Begime, 2 vol., 1890-1894. — Sybel, 
Heinrich von : History of the French Bevolution, 4 vol., 1866-1868. — 
Stephens, H. Morse : History of the French Bevolution, 2 vol., 1886- 
1891. — Hoist, H. von: The French Bevolution tested by Mirabeau''s 
Career, 2 vol., 1894. — Thiers, Adolphe : History of the French Bevolu- 
tion, 10 vol., 1862; History of the Consulate and the Empire, 20 vol., 
1845-1861. Various other editions have been published. The histories 
of Thiers are brilliant, but unscientific and not wholly trustworthy. — 
Mignet, F. A. M. : History of the French Bevolution, 1856. One of the 
best brief accounts. — Lanfrey, P. : History of Napoleon L, 4 vol., 1871- 
1879. The standard work on Napoleon. — Sloane, W. M. : Napoleon. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 579 



A History, 4 vol., 1897-1898.— Mahan, A. T. : The Influence of Sea Power 
upon the French Bevolution and Empire, 2 vol., 1892. — Viel-Castel, 
Loiiis de : Histoire de la Eestauration, 20 vol., 1860-1878. Chiefly 
useful for reference. — Blanc, Louis : The History of Ten Years (1880- 
1840), 2 vol., 1844. Socialistic. — Lamartine, Alphonse de : The His- 
tory of the Restoration of Monarchy in France, 4 vol. , 1854 ; History of the 
Revolution of 1848, 1852. These works are brilliant pictures of events 
rather than histories. — Pierre, Victor: Histoire de la Republique de 
1848, 2 vol., 1878. — Delord, Taxile : Histoire du Second Empire, 
6 vol., 1870. The standard work on the subject. — Gorce, P. de la: 
Histoire du Second Empire, 3 vol., 1894. Friendly to Napoleon. Not yet 
completed. — Ferry, Jules: La Lutte iSlectorale en 1863, 1863. — 
Adams, C. K. : Democracy and Monarchy in France, 2d ed., 1875. 
Traces the causes which brought about the overthrow of the Second 
Empire. — Simon, Jules : The Government of M. Thiers, 2 vol., 1879. 
Interesting ajid valuable. — Coubertin, Baron Pierre de : The Evo- 
hition of France under the Third Republic, 1897. Important. 

MEMOIRS; CORRESPONDENCE: Bourrienne, L. A. Fau- 
velet de : Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, 4 vol., 1893. — R^musat, 
Madame de : Memoirs, 1802-1808, 2 vol., 1880. — Napoleon I., Gorre- 
spondancede, 28 vol., 1858-1869. — Broglie, Due de : Personal Recollec- 
tions of, 1785-1820, 1887. — Lafayette, Marquis de : Memoirs of, 
1870. — Tocqueville, Alexis de : Memoirs, Letters, and Remains, 2 vol., 
1861. — Guizot, F. : Mi'moirs on the History of My Own Times, 4 vol., 
1856-1858. — Senior, William Massau : Journals (1848-1852), 2 vol., 
1871; Gonversations with M, Thiers, M. Guizot, and Other Distinguished 
Persons during the Second Empire, 2 vol., 1878. — Falloux, Comte de : 
Memoirs of. 2 vol., 1880-1881. The comments of a liberal-minded mon- 
archist upon a long series of events. — Viel Castel, Comte Horace de : 
Memoirs of, 2 vol., 1888. Time of Napoleon III. — Washbume, E. B. : 
Recollections of a Minister to France, 2 vol., 1887. Gives a valuable pic- 
ture of the Commune of 1871. 

GENERAL WORKS : Lebon, A. and Pelet, P. : France As It Is, 
1888. — Brownell, W. C. : French Traits, 1889. A searching analysis 
of the national character. — Bodley, J. E. C. : France, 2 vol., 1898. 

FINANCES : Vuhrer, M. A. : Histoire de la dette publique en 
France, 1886. — Say, L^on : Les Finances de la France sous la Troisieme 
Republique. Vol. I. 1871-1875. 1898. 

COLONIES : Vignon, L. : Les Golonies fran^aises, 1885 ; L' Expan- 
sion de la France, 1891. — Norman, C. B. : Golonial France, 1886. — 
Rambaud, Alfred : La France Goloniale, 1895. 

ITALY 

SOURCES : Statesman's Year Book contains lists of the official 
publications of the government. — The Annual Register and other 
Annuals record the events of each year. — For Documents consult the 
historical bibliographies. 



580 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



HISTORIES : Pepe, Guglielmo : Relation des ^venements Poli- 
tiques et Militaires qui 07it lien a Naples en 1820 et 1821, 1822 ; His- 
toire des Bevolutions et Guerres d'^Italie en 1847-49, 1850. Events 
described by one who took part in them. — Probyn, J. W. : Italy, 
1815-90, 1891. — Thayer, W. K. : The Dawn of Italian Independence, 
2 vol., 1893. — Cesaresco, Countess: The Liberation of Italy, 1815- 
1870, 1894. — Stillman, W. J. : The Union of Italy, 1898. Valuable. 

— King, Bolton : A History of Italian Unity, 2 vol., 1899. Based upon 
wide research. — Orsi, Pietro : Modern Italy (1748-1898), 1900. In the 
Story of the Nations series. 

LETTERS ; MEMOIRS ; BIOGRAPHIES: Azeglio, Marquis d': 
Souvenirs, 2 vol., 1867; Lettere, 1883. — Cavour, Count di: Discorsi, 
12 vol., 1863-72; Lettere, 6 vol., 1883-87. —Ricasoli, Baron: Lettere e 
documenti, 10 vol., 1888-95. — Mazzini, Joseph: Life and Writings of, 
6 vol., 1888. — R6cca, General Count deUa : The Autobiography of a 
Veteran, 1807-1893, 1898. 

Mazade, Charles de : Tlie Life of Count Cavour, 1877. — Dicey, 
Edward: Victor Emmanuel, 1882. — Cesaresco, Countess: Italian 
Characters in the Epoch of Unification, 1890 ; Cavour, 1898. 

GENERAL WORKS : Laveleye, tiaaile de : LUtalie actuelle, 
1881. — Gallenga, A.: Italy Present and Future, 1887. — Beauclerk, 
W. N. : Rural Italy, an Accoiint of the Present Agricultural Conditions 
of the Kingdom, 1888. — Amicis, Edmondo de : Cuore, an Italian 
Schoolboy's Journal, 1887. Gives an interesting picture of education in 
Italy. 

SPAIN 

CHRONICLES; RECORDS; DOCUMENTS: The course of 

events may be traced in The Annual Register ; Appleton's Annual 
Cyclopaedia: Hazell's Annual ; and Current History. — Miraflores, 
N. N. de: Memorias ptara escribir la historia contemporanea de los siete 
primeros annos del reinado de Isabel II., 2 vol., 1843-44. — Burgos, 
Javier de: A)inales del reinado de Dona Isabel II., 6 vol., 1850-52. — 
Muro, Martinez J. : Constitutiones de Espaiia, 2 vol., 1881. 

HISTORIES : Dunham, S. A. : The History of Spain and Portugal, 
6 vol., 1832. A careful and scholarly work. — Walton, William : Revo- 
lutions in Spain, 1808-1836, 2 vol., 1837. — Baumgarten, Hermann: 
Geschichte Spaniens, 3 vol., 1865-71. The best general history. — Hub- 
bard, G. : Histoire Contemporaine de VEspagne, 4 vol., 1882-84. — 
Curry, J. M. : Constitutional Government in Spain, 1889. — Latimer, 
E. W. : Spain in the Nineteenth Century, 1898. A useful compendium. 

— Strobel, E. H. : The Spanish Revolution, 1865-1868, 1898. 
GENERAL WORKS : Cushing, Caleb : Reminiscences of Spain, 

2 vol., 1833. — Amicis, Edmondo de : Spain, 1873. — Gallenga, A.: 
Iberian Reminiscences, 2 vol., 1883. — S6ve, E. : La Situation econo- 
mique de VEspagne, 1887. — Field, H. M. : Old Spain and New Spain, 
1888. — Lowell. James Russell : Impressions of Spain, 1899. — Valera 
and Perez Galdos, the novelists, give vivid pictures of life, manners, and 
social conditions in Spain. Gloria, by the latter author, is especially valuable. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 581 



PORTUGAL 

SOURCES: Saldanha, Duke of: Memoirs, 2 vol., 1880. The Duke 
of Saldanha was prominent in Portuguese wars and politics for half a 
century. His record of events is interesting and valuable. — Govern- 
ment's Official Publications. — The various Annuals. — Documentos 
para a Historia das Cortes de Nagao Portuguesa : 1820-1828, 4 vol., 
1883-1887. 

HISTORIES AND GENERAL "WORKS : BoUaert, William : 
The Wars of Succession in Portugal and Spain fram 1826-1840, 2 vol., 
1870. Important only because of the lack of good histories of Portugal. — 
Stephens, H. Morse: Portugal (in the Story of the Nations serie.s), 
1890. Excellent. — Crawfurd, Oswald : Portugal Old and New, 1880 ; 
Bound the Calendar in Portugal, 1890. — Lavigne, Germonde de : 
L'Espagne et le Portugal, 1885. 

BELGIUM 

SOURCES : Huyttens : Discussions du congres national de Belgique, 
5 vol. (1830-18ol); Annales parlementaires de Belgique, 5 vol., 1881- 
1884. — Soelen, Verstolk van : Becueil de pieces diplomatique relatives 
aux affaires de la Belgique en 1830-1832. — Tbonissen, J. J. : La Con- 
stitution beige annotee ; Almanach Boyal Officiel de Belgique ; Annuaire 
statistique de la Belgique, and other official publications. 

HISTORIES : Thonissen, J. J. : La Belgique sous le regne de Leo- 
pold /., 4 vol., 1855-58. — Hymans, Henri Simon: Histoire parlemen- 
taire de la Belgique de 1814 a 1830, 1869 ; Histoire parlementaire de la 
Belgique de 1830 a 1880, 1887-1880. — Juste, Th. : La Revolution beige, 
1870. — Laveleye, Emile de : Le parti clerical en Belgique, 1874. — 
Bavay, Ch. Victor de : Histoire de la Revolution beige de 1830, 1876. — 
Bertrand, L. : Leopold II. et son regne, 1865-1890, 1876. — Balau, L. : 
Soixante-dix ans d'histoire de Belgique, 1890. — English works upon 
Belgium are few. To trace the course of events, consult the Annuals and 
the English political Reviews. 

SAN MARINO 

Bent, J. H. : A Freak of Freedom, 1879. — The Republic of San Ma- 
rino. Translated from the French, 1880. Printed for private distrilni- 
tion, but found in some of the larger libraries. — Boyer de Sednte 
Suzanne, R. de: La Republique de Saint-Marin, 1883. — Franciosi, 
P.: Garibaldi e la Republica San Marino, 1891. 

ANDORRA 

Jaybert, L^on : La Republique d^Andorre, 1865. — Spender, H. : 
Through the High Pyrenees, 1898; and ^ Visit to Andorra, niTheToxt- 
nightly Review, 67 : 44. — Consult also Les Vallees d''Andorre, in the 
Revue Encyclop^dique for 1898, p. 341. 



582 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

SOURCES : Consult Dahlmann-'Waitz, Quellenkunde der deutschen 
Geschichte; and Muhlbrecht, Wegweiser ziir Literatur der Staats- 
wissenschaften. Metternich's Nachgelassene Papiere (8 vol., 1880-84) 
are useful. 

HISTORIES; MEMOIRS: Kelley, W. H., and Hartig, Count: 
Continuation o/ "William Coxe's History of the House of Austria. This 
volume, published later than the three volumes of the original work, con- 
tains a valuable study of the causes of the revolution of 1848. — Springer, 
Anton: Geschichte Oesterreichs, 2 vol., 1863-65. — Asseline, Louis: 
Histoire de VAutriche depuis la Mort de Marie Therese jusq^Ca nos 
jours,, ISn. — "Whitman, Sidney: Austria (in the Story of the Nations 
series), 1890. — Metternich, Prince: Memoirs of, 5 vol., 1880-81. — 
Beust, Count von : Memoirs, 2 vol., 1887. Give an interesting view of 
the liberalization of Austria after the war with Prussia in 1866. 

POLITICAL STUDIES; GENERAL "WORKS : E. O. S. : Hun- 
gary and its Bevolutions. In Bohn's Library. — Patterson, Arthur 
J.: The Magyars, 1869. — Englishman, An: The Austro-Hungarian 
Empire and the Policy of Count Beust, 1870. —"Worms, Henry 
de : The Austro-Hungarian Empire. A Political Sketch of 3Ien and 
Events since 1866, 1877. — Stillman, "W. J. : Herzegovina and the 
Late Uprising, 1877. — Kay, David: Austria- Hungary, 1880. — For the 
civilizing work done by Austria in Bosnia and Herzegovina, consult 
De Laveleye's The Balkan Peninsula (2 vol., 1887) and The Quarterly 
Review, 189 : 281. 

For Liechtenstein, consult Falke, Jacob von : Geschichte des furst- 
lichen Hauses Liechtenstein, 2 vol., 1868-77. 

SERVIA 

Ranke, Leopold von : The History of Servia and the Servian Bevo- 
lution, 1847. The standard work for the period it covers. — Mijatovitch, 
E. L.: The History of Modern Servia, 1872. — Holland, Thomas Er- 
skine : The European Concert on the Eastern Question, 1885. — Minchin, 
J. S. C. : The Growth of Freedom in the Balkan Peninsula, 1886. — 
Laveleye, ^mile de: The Balkan Peninsula, 2 vol., 1887. — Macken- 
zie, A. Muir : Travels in the Slavonic Provinces of Turkey in Europe, 
1887. — Millet, Ren^: La Serbe economique et commerciale, 1889. — 
"Vivian, H. : Servia, the Poor Man's Paradise, 1897. — Miller, "William : 
The Balkans, 1896. In the Story of the Nations series. Useful for 
all the Balkan States ; Travels and Politics in the Near East, 1899. Dis- 
cusses all the countries of southeastern Europe. 

GREECE 

Capodistrias, J. : Correspondance du 20 Avril 1827 jusqu'au 9 
Oct., 1831, 4 vol., 1839. — Finlay, George: A History of Greece from 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 583 



the Conquest by the Romans to the Present Time, 7 vol., 1877. Authori- 
tative. The last two volumes treat of the nineteenth century. — Felton, 

C. C. : Greece, Ancient and Modern, 2 vol., 1867, 1 vol., 1880. Brilliant ; 
not always sound. — Tuckerman, C. K. : The Greeks of To-day, 1873. 

— Jebb, R. C. : Modern Greece, 1880. — Campbell, Hon. Dudley: 
Turks and Greeks, 1887. — Bickford-Smith, R. A. H. : Greece under 
King George, 1893. — Samuelson, J. : Greece : Present Condition and 
Recent Progress, 1894. — Rose, W. K. : With the Greeks in Thessaly, 
1897. — Palmer, F. : Going to War in Greece, 1898. — German Staff 
Officer: Grceco- Turkish War of 1897. From Official Sources, 1898. 
(Translated from the German.) — Guerber, H. A.: The Story of the 
Greeks, 1898. — Sergeant, Lewis: Greece in the Nineteenth Century, 
1898. Valuable. — For the troubles in Crete and the events that have 
followed from them, consult Current History, Hazell's Annual, and the 
political Reviews. 

RUMANIA 

Vaillant, J. A. : La Romanie, 3 vol., 1845. — Samuelson, J. : Rou- 
mania, Past and Present, 1882. — De Laveleye, The Balkan Peninsula. 

— Blaramberg : Essai sur les institutions de la Roumanie, 1885. — 
Whitman, Sidney : Reminiscences of the King of Roumania, 1899. 

For Documents, consult Fetrescu et Stourdza : Actes et documents 
relatifs a Vhistoire de la regeneration de la Roumanie, 7 vol., 1889-92. 

BULGARIA 

St. Clair, S. G. B. , and Brophy, C. A. : Twelve Years' Study of the 
Eastern Question in Bulgaria, 1877. — Clark, E. L. : TTie Races of 
European Turkey: Their History, Condition, and Prospects, 1879. — 
Kanitz, F. : La Bulgarie Danuhienne et le Balkan, 1860-80, 1882. 

— Huhn, Major A. von : The Struggle of the Balkans for National In- 
dependence under Prince Alexander, 1886. — Koch, A. : Prince Alexan- 
der of Battenberg, 1887. — Samuelson, J. : Bidgaria Past and Present, 
1888. — Lamouche, L. : La Bulgarie dans le passe et le present, 1892. — 
Dicey, E. : The Peasant State. An Account of Bulgaria in 1894, 1894. 

— Beaman, A. Hulme: M. Stambuloff, 1895. In "Public Men of 
To-day " ; Tioenty Years in the Near East, 1898. — Draudar, A. : Les 
Evenements politiques en Bulgarie depuis 1876 jusqu'ii nos jours, 1896. 

— Ripley, William Z. : The Races of Europe, 1899. Useful for the 
whole Balkan Peninsula, Austria-Hungary, and all countries where the 
race problem is perplexing. 

MONTENEGRO 

Wilkinson, Sir Gardner: Dalmatia and Montenegro, 1848. — An- 
dric, M. : Geschichte des Furstenthums Montenegro, 1853. — Delarue, 
H. : Le Montenegro, 1862. — Denton, Rev. W. : Montenegro : Its Peo- 
ple and Their History, 1877. — For recent developments and present 
conditions, consult article in The Fortnightly Review (70 : 911) by J. 

D. Bouchier. 



584 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



TURKEY 

Zinkeisen, J. W. : Geschichte des osmanischen Reichs in Europa, 7 
vol., 1840-63. — Creasy, Sir Edward S. : History of the Ottoman 
Turks, 1877. Favorable to tlie Turks, but an excellent historical outline. 

— Dunn, A. J. : The Rise and Decay of Islam, 1877. — Baker, James: 
Turkey, 1877. — Freeman, E. A. : The Ottoman Power in Europe, 1877. 
Indispensable for a thorough understanding of the Eastern Question. — 
Amicis, E. de : Constantinople, 1878. — MacColl, Malcolm: The 
Sultan and the Powers, 1896. — Thomson, H. C. : The Outgoing Turk, 
1897. — Stevens, W. S. : With the Conquering Turk, 1897. —For the 
Armenian Massacres and other recent developments, consult the Annuals 
and the political Reviews. 

RUSSIA 

Bell, R. A. : A History of Russia, 3 vol., 1836. — Schnitzler, J. 

H. : Secret History of the Court and Government of Russia under the 
Emperors Alexander artd Nicholas, 2 vol., 1847. — Schuyler, Eugene. 
Turkestan : Notes of a Journey in Russian Turkestan, Kliokand, Bukhara, 
and Kuldja, 2 vol., 1876. — Wallace, Mackenzie : Russia, 1877. A 
careful study. — Rambaud, Alfred : The History of Russia from the Ear- 
liest Times to 1877, 2 vol., 1878. The best of the histories. — Lansdell, 
H. : Russian Central Asia, 1885. — Stepniak : Underground Russia, 
1885 ; Russia and the Tsars, 1885 ; The Russian Peasantry, 1888. Step- 
niak's works are important as giving the Nihilist's point of view ; but the 
intensely partisan spirit which they display renders them untrustworthy. 

— Czartoryski, Prince Adam G. : Memoirs and his Correspondence 
with Alexander I., 2 vol., 1888. Prince Czartoryski (born 1770, died 
1801) was a Polish patriot, who lived under five Russian sovereigns and 
held high office under Alexander I. His Memoirs are interesting and 
valuable. — Kennan, George: Siberia and the Exile System, 1891. — 
Morfil, W. R. : Poland. In the Story of the Nations series, 1893. — 
Leroy-Beaulieu, Anatole : The Empire of the Tsars and the Russians, 
3 vol., 1893-96. The best general work. — Lowe, Charles: Alex- 
ander III. of Russia, 1895. — Krapotkin, P. : Memoirs of a Revolution- 
ist, 1899. Valuable, but like the works of Stepniak, to be read with 
caution. — Vladimir : Russia on the Pacific and the Siberian Railway, 
1899. — Bookwalter, J. "W. : Siberia and Central Asia, 1899. — Skrine, 
F. H., and Ross, E. D. : The Heart of Asia, 1899. —Fisher, J. R. : 
Finland and the Tscas, 1899. — Bulletin Russe. — Russian Journal of 
Financial Statistics. To be begun in September, 1900. 

GERMANY 

SOURCES : Consult Quellenkunde der Deutschen Geschichte ; 
Seignobos, Histoire Politique, pp. 378, 431, 459, 492; and H. Morse 
Stephens : Lectures on Modern History, pp. 247, 273. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 585 



HISTORIES : ESSAYS : Menzel, "Wolfgang : The History of 
Germany from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, 3 vol., 1849. — 
Van Deventer, M. L. : Cinquante Annees de V Histoire Federale de 
VAllemagne, 1870. — Rustow, W. : The War for the Bhine Frontier, 
3 vol., 1871-72. — Droysen, J. G. : Geschichte der Preussischen Politik, 
8 vol., 1868-76. —Seeley, J. R. : Life and Times of Stein, 2 vol., 1879. 

— Pressens^, E. de : Contemporary Portraits, 1880. Contains an ex- 
cellent article on the Culturkampf. — Hahn, L. : Geschichte des Kul- 
turkampfes in Preussen, 1881. Protestant. — Schulte, F. X. : Geschichte 
des Kulturkampfes in Preussen, 1882. Catholic. — James, E. J. : The 
Federal Constitution of Germany (translation), 1890. — Wenzel, John: 
Comparative View of the Executive and Legislative Departments of the 
Governments of the United States, France, England, and Germany, 1891. 

— Geffcken, F. H. : The Unity of Germany (English Historical Re- 
view, 1891, p. 209). — Moltke, Count von: The Franco-German War, 
1870-71, 1893. — Sybel, H. von: Die Begrunching des Deutschen 
Beichs, 7 vol., 1890-94. Important. — English tran.slation in 1898. — 
Bigelow, Poultney : History of the German Struggle for Liberty, 2 vol., 
1896. — Baring-Gould, S. : Germany, Past and Present, 1879. — Whit- 
man, Sidney : Imperial Germany, 1889. 

MEMOIRS ; BIOGRAPHIES : Ernest II., Duke of Saxe-Coburg- 
Gotha: Memoirs, 2 vol., 1888. — Simon, E. : UEmpereur Guillaume, 
1896 ; Histoire du Prince de Bismarck, 1887. — Lo'we, Charles : Life of 
Prince Bismarck, 2 vol., 1888. Laudatory. — Busch, Moritz : Bismarck : 
Some Secret Pages of his History, 3 vol., 1898. — Bismarck, The Man 
and the Statesman, 2 vol., 1899. Composed from Bismarck's own writings. 

— Steams, F. P. : Life of Prince Otto von Bismarck, 1899. Apologetic. 

— Marcks, Erich: Kaiser Wilhelm L, 1899. — Andler, Charles: Le 
Prince de Bismarck, 1899. Excellent. — Headlam, J. "W. : Bismarck 
and the Foundation of the German Empire, 1900. In the Heroes of the 
Nations series. 

HOLLAND 

Carr, Sir John : A Tour through Holland, 1807. Important for the 
period when it was written. — Saussaye, Chantepie de la: La crise 
religieuse en Hollande, 1860. — Juste, Th. : La Soidevement de HoUande 
et la Fondation des Pays-Bas, 1870. — Havard, H. : Li the Heart of Hol- 
land, 1880. — Amicis,"E. de : Holland, 1883. — Ditchfield, P. H.': The 
Church in the Netherlands, 1892. ■ — Griffis, W. E. : The American in Hol- 
land, 1899. — Meldrum, David S. : Holland and the Hollanders, 1899. 

For the Colonies, consult Boys, H. S. : Some Notes on Java and its Ad- 
ministration by the Dutch, 1892. — Berg, Van dem : The Financial and 
Economical Condition of Netherlands, India, 1895. — Cool, W. : With 
the Dutch in the East, 1897. 

DENMARK 

Dunham, S. A. : History of Denmark, Sweden, and Norumy, 3 vol., 
1840. — Laing, S. : Observations on the Social and Political State of 



586 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Denmark, 1852. — Gosch, Charles A. : Denmark and Germany since 
1815, 18()2. — Gallenga, A. : The Invasion of Denmark in 1864, 2 vol., 
1864. —Dicey, E. : Schlesioig-Holstein War, 2 vol., 1864. —Ott^, E. 
C. : Denmark and Iceland, 1881. — Sidgw^ick, C. S. : Denmark (Story 
of the Nations), 1890. — Martinet, Camille : La Socialisme en Danemark, 
1893. — Baring-Goiild, S. : Iceland, its Scenes and Sagas, 187;J. 

For Schleswig-Holstein Question consult also Quarterly Review, 115 : 
236. For recent history use Annual Register, Appleton's Annual 
Cyclopaedia, and the political Reviews. 
» 

SWEDEN AND NORWAY 

HISTORIES : Dunham's Denmark, Sweden, and Nonoay. — Geijer, 
E. G., and Carlson, F. F. : Geschichte Schwedens, 5 vol., 1844-75. 
Translated from the Swedish. The standard history. — Fryxell, A.: 
Histoi-y of Sioeden, 2 vol., 1844. — Ott^, E. C. : Scandinavian Histoi'y, 
1874. — Boyesen, H. H. : Xoricay (Story of the Nations), 1886. 

GENERAL WORKS : Brown, J. : Northern Courts, 2 vol., 1818. — 
Laing. S. : Journal of a Residence in Norway, 1836. — Latham, R. G. : 
Norway and the Noricegians, 2 vol., 1840. — Scott, C. H. : The Danes 
and Swedes, 1856. — Brace, C. L. : The Norse-Folk, 1857. — Taylor, 
J. Bayard : Northern Travel, 1858. — Grosvenor, E. L. M. G. : Diary 
of a Tour in Sweden, Norway, and Bitssia, 1879. — Du Chaillu, P. B. : 
The Land of the Midnight Sun, 2 vol., 1881. — Keary, C. F. : Norway 
and the Norwegians, 1892. — Baker, Sarah S. Tuthill : Pictures of 
Swedish Life, 1894. 

For the recent troubles between Sweden and Norway consult the 
Annuals and Reviews. 

SWITZERLAND 

BIBLIOGRAPHY, DOCUMENTS, AND SOURCES : Consult 
Dandliker's Geschichte der Schweiz ; and Seignobos : Histoire Politique, 

etc., p. 266. 

HISTORIES AND OTHER "WORKS : Morin, A. : Precis de 
V Histoire Politique de la Suisse, 5 vol., 1855-75. A scholarly work. — 
Dandliker, Carl : Geschichte der Schweiz, 3 vol., 1895. The standard 
history ; and Shoi't History of Switzerland, 1898. The best brief history. 
— Moses, Bernard : Federal Government of Sivitzerland, 1889. A care- 
ful and discriminating study. — Adams, Sir F. A., and Cunningham, 
C. D. : The Swiss Confederation, 1889. — Dawson, W. S. : Social 
Switzerland, 1897. — Deploige, Simon: The Beferendxim in Switzer- 
land, 1898. 

GREAT BRITAIN 

SOURCES : Hansard's Debates. — The Annual Register. — 
Hertslet (Compiler), British and Foreign State Papers: 1838-72, 
.36 vol., 1856-79. — Also Government Publications on Administrations, 
Finance, Arbitration, Colonial Rule, etc. — Speeches, Letters, and 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 587 



other Writings of eminent statesmen. — Hazell's Annual contains each 
year a full summary of parliamentary legislation. 

HISTORIES : (1) GENERAL : Green, J. R. : History of the Eng- 
lish People, -i vol. , 1878-80 ; also Short History of the English People, in 
one volume. — Bright, F. : English History for the Use of Public Schools, 
3 vol., 1878. — Gardiner, S. R. : StudenVs History of England, 3 vol., 
1890-91. 

(2) SPECIAL: Martineau, Harriet : The History of England, 1801- 
54, 4 vol., 1864. Spirited; interesting; not judicial. — Molesworth, 
W. N. : The History of England, 1830-74, 3 vol., 1874 ; abridged ed., 

1 vol., 1887. Political. — Walpole, Spencer: A History of England 
from the Conclusion of the Great War in 1S15, 3 vol., 1878-80. Revised 
ed., 1890. — McCarthy, Justin H. : A History of Our Oion Times, 2 vol., 
1878-80. Interesting, but diffuse and unscientific. — Escott, T. H. S. : 
England; Her People, Polity, and Pursuits, 1880. Gives interesting 
pictures of English customs, manners, and institutions. — Ward, T. 
Humphrey (Editor) : The Beign of Queen Victoria, by various writers, 

2 vol., 1887. — Traill, H. D. (Editor) : Social England, 6 vol., 1893-97. 
Vol. VI. covers the nineteenth century. — Oman, C. W. : England in 
the Nineteenth Century, 1899. — Kent, C. B. Roylance : The English 
Badicals, 1899. 

(3) CONSTITUTIONAL : Creasy, Sir Edward : The Else and 
Progress of the English Constiintion, 1855. — May, Sir Thomas 
Erskine : The Constitutional History of England since the Accession of 
George the Third, new ed., 2 vol., 1880. Judicial; scholarly. — Amos, 
Sheldon : Fifty Years of the English Constitution, 1830-80, 1880. — 
Bagehot, Walter : Essays on Parliamentary Reform, 1884 ; The Eng- 
lish Constitution and Other Essays, 1885. Bagehot's writings are of prime 
importance. — Gneist, Rudolph : History of the English Constitution, 
new ed., 1891; History of the English Parliament, third ed., 1891. — 
Dickinson, G. L. : The Developm/'Ut of Parliament during the Nine- 
teenth Century, 1895. — Smith, Goldv^in : The United Kingdom. A 
Political History, 2 vol.. 189'.l. 

BIOGRAPHIES ; SPEECHES ; W^RITINGS;! Canning, George: 
Select Speeches, 1842. — Stratford-Canning, Viscount: Life and Cor- 
respondence of, S. Lane Poole. 2 vol., 1888. — Palmerston, Viscount: 
Life and Correspondence of, Hon. Evelyn Ashley. 2 vol., 1879. — Rus- 
sell, Earl John : Selections from Speeches and Despatches, 2 vol., 1870. — 
Greville, Charles C. F. : Memoirs of the Reigns of King George IV. and 
King William IV., 3 vol. (also 2 vol.), 1875; Reign of Queen Victoria, 
1837-52, 3 vol., 1885 ; continued, 1852-60, 2 vol., 1887. ~ Shaftesbury, 
Earl of: Life of, by Edwin Hodder, 3 vol., 1886; 1 vol., 1887. Lord 

1 The names under this head are placed chronologically, in the order of 
birth. The names of the statesmen are given before those of the authors of 
their lives, both for convenience' sake and because the biographies are, as a 
rule, composed largely of extracts from speeches and letters, and are thus, in 
reality, autobiographies. 



588 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



Shaftesbury's career has a special importance on account of his exertions 
in behalf of the workingmeu. — Cobden, Richard : Life of, by John 
Morley, 1883. — Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield : Selected 
Speeches, 2 vol., 1882. — Gladstone, W. E. : Life of, by G. Barnett 
Smith, 2 vol., 1879 ; Life of, by Tliomas Archer, 4 vol., 1883 ; The Politi- 
cal Life of, 3 vol., 1897. — Bright, John: Life and Speeches of by 
G, Barnett Smith, 2 vol., 1889. — Loftus, Lord Augustus: The 
Diplomatic Beminiscences of, 1837-62, 4 vol., 1892. — Salisbury, 
Marquis of : Life and Speeches of, by F. S. Pulling, 2 vol., 1886. 

THE IRISH QUESTION : Jervis, H. J. W. : Ireland under British 
Rule, 1868. — Murphy, J. N. : Ireland: Industrial, Political, and Social, 
1870. — Fisher, J.: History of Landholding in Ireland, 1877. — Sulli- 
van, A. M. : New Ireland, 1878. — Smith, G. : Irish History and Irish 
Character, 1880. — "Walsh, "W. J. C. : Plain Exposition of the Irish 
Land Act of 1881, 1881. — O'Brien, R. B. : The Irish Land Question 
and English Public Opinion, new ed., 1881 ; Fifty Years of Concessions 
to Ireland, 1831-81, 2 vol., 1883-85. —McCarthy, J. H. : Ireland since 
the Union, 1887. — Daryll, Philippe: Ireland'' s Disease, 1888. Gives 
the impressions of one who visited and studied Ireland when the Land 
League was most active. — Steele, Sarah L. : The Rt. Hon. 31. A. Kava- 
nagh, 1891. The life of a man who was a leader among the Irish gentry 
in their struggle with the peasantry. — Chamberlain, Richard : Speeches 
on the Irish Land Question between 1887 and 1890, 1891. In opposition 
to the Irish Nationalists. — Lloyd, Clifford: Ireland under the Land 
League, 1892. The narrative of a magistrate who opi^osed the League 
with great energy. — Argyll, Duke of : Irish Nationalism ; An Appeal 
to History, 1893. Against Home Rule. — Dicey, A. V. : ^ Leap in the 
Dark: or Our New Constitution, 1893. — Kennedy, T. : A History of 
the Irish Protest against Over-Taxation from 1853 to 1897, 1898. 



THE COLONIES 

GENERAL WORKS : The Colonial Year Book. —Lucas, C. P. : 

Historical Geography of the British Colonies, 4 vol., 1888. — Seeley, 
J. R. : T7i.e Expansion of England, 1883 ; Growth of British Policy, 
1895. — Dilke, Sir Charles: Problems of Greater Britain, 1891.* — 
Lewis, Sir George Comewall : An Essay on the Government of Depend- 
encies, 1891. — Demolins, Edmond : Anglo-Saxon Superiority, 1898. 
— Gorren, Aline : Anglo-Saxons and Others, 1900. — Sheo-wdng, Will- 
iam (Editor), British Empire Series. In course of publication. Im- 
portant. 

CANADA: Kingsford, VT. : The History of Canada, 10 vol., 1888-98. 
Vol. VII. to X. deal with the nineteenth century. — McMullen, J. M. : 
The History of Canada, 2 vol., 3 ed., 1892. — Douglas. James: 
Canadian Independence, 1894. — Parkin, G. R. : The Great Dominion : 
Studies of Canada, 1895. — Roberts, C. D. G. : A History of Canada, 
1897. — Handbook of Canada, issued by the British Association for the 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 589 



Advancement of Science, Toronto, 1897. Carefully compiled by competent 
authorities. Valuable. —Lefroy, A. H. F. : The Law of Legislative 
Power in Canada, 1898. — Kennedy, HoTvard A.: Canada. In the 
Story of the Empire series. — Morgan, H. J. : Canadian Men and Women 
of the Time, IS98. Dominion Annual Register and Review^. Annual 
Reports of the Various Government Departments. 

AUSTRALIA: (1) GENERAL: TroUope, Anthony : Australasia 
and Neio Zealand, 1873. — Rusden, G. W. : The History of Australia, 
8 vol., 1883. —Epps, W. : The Land System of Australia, 1894.— 
Jenks, E. : The Australian Colonies from their Foundation to the Year 
1893, 1895. —Laurie, J. S. : The Story of Australasia, 1896. — Garran, 
R. R. : The Coming Commonwealth, 1897. — "Walker, H. de R. : Aus- 
tralasian Democracy, 1897. — Shaw, Flora L. : Australia. In the Story 
of the Empire series. Greville, Hon. Edward (Editor) : The Year- 
Book of Australia. Published annually. — For the question of Federa- 
tion, consult The Statesman's Year-Book under Australia ; The Quarterly 
Beview, 190 : 289 ; Political Science Quarterly, 14 : 663 ; and other reviews 
and magazines. 

(2) SPECIAL : Parkes, Sir H. : Fifty Years in the Making of Aus- 
tralian History, 2 vol., 1892. — Roydhouse, T. R. : The Labour Party 
in Neiv South Wales, 1892. — Hutchinson, F. : JVeio South Wales: the 
Mother Colony of the Australias, 1896. 

Russell, H. S. : The Genesis of Queensland, 1888. — Weedon, T. : 
Queensland Past and Present, 1896. 

Hodder, Edwin: The History of South Australia, 2 vol., 1893.— 
Blackmore, E. G. : The Law of the Constitution of South Australia, 1894. 

Fenton, James: History of Tasmania, 1894. — Johnston, R. M. : 
Handbook of Tasmania, annual. 

Bannow, W. : The Colony of Victoria, 1897. 

Calvert, A. T. : Western Australia : Its History and Progress, 1894. 

— Mennell, P. : The Coming Colony, 1894. 

Consult also the Annual Blue Book and Statistical Begister, published 
by each Colony. 

NEW ZEALAND : TroUope's Australasia and New Zealand. — 
Wakefield, E. : New Zealand after Fifty Years, 1889. — Gisborne : 
The Colony of New Zealand, 1891 ; New Zealand Bulers and Statesmen, 
1844-97, 1897. —Rees, W. L. : The Life and Times of Sir George 
Grey, 1892. Valuable also for Australia and South Africa. — Rusden, 
G. "W. : The History of New Zealand, new ed., 3 vol., 1896. — Neio 
Zealand, in the Story of the Empire series, 1898. — Annual Statistical 
Begister. — New Zealand Official Year-Book. 

SOUTH AFRICA: TroUope, Anthony: South Africa, 2 vol., 1878. 

— Statham. F- R- = Blacks, Boers and British, 1881 ; South Africa As 
It Is, 1897 ; Paul Kruger and His Times, 1898. — Norris, Newman C. L. : 
With the Boers in the Transvaal and Orange Free State in 1880-81, 
1882. — Weber, Ernest de : Quatre ans aupays des Boers, 1882. — Theal, 
George McCall : History of the Boers in South Africa, 1887 ; History oj 



690 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



South Africa, 5 vol., 1888-93 ; South Africa (Story of the Nations), 1891. 

— Molteno, P. A.: A Federal South Africa, 1896. — Regan, W. F.: Boer 
and Uitlander ; the True History of the Late Events in South Africa, 1896. 

— Withers, H.: The English and the Dutch in South Africa; an Histor- 
ical Betrospect, 1896. — Schreiner, Olive: The Political Situation (in 
Cape Colony), 1896; The South African Question, 1890. — Campbell, 
C. T. : British South Africa, 1795-1825, 1897. —Garrett, T. E., and 
Edwards, E. J. : The Story of an African Crisis (Jameson raid), 1897. 

— Hammond. Natalie : A Woman\s Part in a Bevolution, 1897. — 
Bryden, H. A. : The Victorian Era in South Africa, 1897. — MacNab, 
F. : On Velt and Farm in Cape Colony, Bechuanaland, Natal, and the 
Transvaal, 1897. — Wilmot, A. : The Story of the Expansion of South- 
ern Africa, 2 ed., 1897 ; History of Our Own Times in South Africa, 2 
vol.. 1898. —Nicholson. G. : Fifty Years in South Africa, 1898.— 
Bigelow, Poultney : White Man's Africa, 1898. — Stanley, H. N. : 
Through South Africa, 1898. — Yoiinghusband, F. E. : South Africa of 
To-day, 1898. — Thomson, H. C. : Bhodesia and Its Government, 1898. 

— Johnston, Sir H. : The Colonisation of South Africa, 1899. — Hil- 
legas, H. C. : Oom PauVs People, 1899. — Bryce, James: Impressions 
of South Africa, nevs^ ed. in 1899, vt^itli a review of the troubles between 
the Boers and the British. Article on this question by the same author in 
the North American Bevieic, 169: 737. — Devereux, Roy: Side Lights 
on South Africa, 1900. — Brown, "W. H. : On the South African Fron- 
tier, 1900. — Stickney, Albert : The Transvaal Outlook, 1900. — Hob- 
son, J. A. : The War in South Africa : its Causes and Effects, 1900. — 
Monthly Bulletin of the Boston Public Library, December, 1899, 
gives a complete bibliography of the South African Question, with a 
list of the British State Papers that bear on the subject, from 1876 to 
1899. 

EGYPT (not a colony with responsible government, but a vital point 
in the British Empire) : Milner, Sir Alfred : England in Egypt, 1894. 
Of special value and importance. — Slatin Pasha : Fire and Sword in 
the Sudan, 1895. — Alford, H. S., and Sword, W. D. : The Egyptian 
Sudan : Its Loss and Becovery, 1898. — Cameron, D. A. : Egypt in the 
19th Century, 1898. — Schweitzer, G. : Emin Pasha: His Life and 
Work, 2 vol., 1898. — Stevens, G. W. : With Kitchener to Khartum, 
1898. — Beimett, E. A. : The Downfall of the Dervishes, 1899.— Wors- 
fold, "W. BasU : The Bedemption of Egypt, 1899. — Churchill, "W. S. : 
The Biver War. An Account of the Be-conquest of the Sudan, 1899. — 
White, A. S : The Expansion of Egypt, 1900. 

THE UNITED STATES 

SOURCES : The Journals of Congress from 1774 to 1788, 4 vol,, 
1823. — Reports of the Debates in the National Convention of 1787. 

A diary kept by James Madison, 3 vol., 1840; 1 vol., 1893. — The 
Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the 
Federal Constitution, with other important documents. Collected by 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 591 



Jonathan Eliot, 5 vol., 1861. — AnnalB of Congress, 42 vol., 1834-56. 
Period 1789 to May, 1824 ; The Register of Debates, "29 vol. Period 
December, 1824, to October, 1837 ; Congressional Globe, 108 vol. 
Period 1837 to 1872 ; Congressional Record. Period 1872 to the pres- 
ent. — The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters, and 
Other Organic Laws of the United States. Collected by Benjamin 
Perley Poore, 2 vol., 1877-78. — Treaties and Conventions bet-ween 
the United States and Other Powers, 1776-1887. Printed by the 
United States Government in 1889. — Messages and Papers of the 
Presidents, 1789 to January 1, 1899, 10 vol., with a valuable index. An 
important collection. — Government publications concerning Arbitra- 
tion and all other important political questions. 

HISTORIES : (1) GENERAL : Bancroft, George : History of the 
United States to the Close of the Revolutionary War, 10 vol., 1834-74; 
and 6 vol., revised, 1876. Learned and interesting, but barely touching 
upon the period covered by the present volume. — Hildreth, Richard 
G. : History of the United States from the Discovery of America to the End 
of the Sixteenth Congress, 6 vol., new ed., 1879. Sound, but dry. — 
Tucker, George: Tlie History of the United States from their Coloniza- 
tion to the End of the Twenty-sixth Congress in 1841, 4 vol., 1860. Inter- 
esting as giving the Southern point of view. — McMaster, John Bach : 
A History of the People of the United States, 5 vol., 1883-1900. Not com- 
pleted. — Winsor, Justin (Editor) : Narrative and Critical History of 
America, 7 vol., 1888. More critical than narrative. Bibliographies com- 
plete and valuable. — Montgomery, D. H. : The Students'' History of 
the United States, 1897. — Channing, Edward : Student's History of the 
United States, 1898. This work and the preceding, though single-volume 
histories, are not mere compendiums, but show independence of view and 
familiarity with original sources. 

(2) SPECIAL : Schouler, James : History of the United States, 
1783-1865, 6 vol., 1880-99. A most important work for the period it 
covers. — Roosevelt, Theodore: The Winning of the West, 4 vol., 
1889-96. A graphic picture of the conquest and occupation of new land 
west of the Appalachian chain. — Fiske, John : The Critical Period of 
American History, 1888. — Adams, Henry: History of the United States, 
1801-1817, 9 vol., 1889-91. The best work for this period. — Goodell, 
"William : Slavery and Antislavery, 3 ed., 1855. Dispassionate ; scien- 
tific. — Wilson, Henry: Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America, 
4 ed., 3 vol., 1876. Less fair and impartial than Goodell's work. — 
Greeley, Horace : The American Conflict, 2 vol., 1864-67. A valuable 
study of the causes of the Civil War. Military criticism unsound. — 
Count of Paris: History of the Civil War in America, 2 vol., 1875-76. 
An excellent work, but never completed. — Stephens, Alexander : 
The War between the States, 2 vol., 1870. — Davis, Jefferson : The Rise 
and Fall of the Confederate Government, 2 vol., 1881. — Blaine, 
James G. : Twenty Years of Congress, 1861-1881, 2 vol., 1884. — 
Rhodes, James Ford : History of the United States, 1850-1885. Fourth 



692 BIBLIOGKAPHY 



volume, ending with Lincoln's reelection in 1864, published in 1899. 
Shows wide research and sound historical judgment. — Shaler, N. S. 
(Editor) : The United States, 2 vol., 1894. Valuable monographs upon 
a variety of interesting and important subjects. — Andre'ws, E. Benja- 
min : The History of the Last Quarter Century in the United States, 
2 vol., 1896. Useful. Gives more details than most of the works that 
treat of this period. — Wise, John S. : The End of an Era, 1899. The 
views of a fair-minded Southerner. 

(3) CONSTITUTIONAL : Benton, Thomas H. : Thirty Tears' 
View, 1820-1850, 2 vol., 1854-56. —Curtis, George Ticknor : History 
of the Constitution of the United States, 2 vol., 1854-58 ; new ed., 1896. 
Considered by many the standard work on the subject ; but its treatment 
of some of the graver political problems, particularly those arising from 
slavery, is by no means adequate. — Bancroft, George : History of the 
Formation of the Constitution, 2 vol., 1882. — Hoist, H. von : The Con- 
stitutional and Political History of the United States, 8 vol., 1879-85 ; 
new ed., 1899. A searching study of American institutions. More pro- 
found and suggestive than the work of Curtis. — Smith, Goldwin : The 
United States: a Political History, 1893. — Stevens, C. Ellis : Sources 
of the Constitution of the United States, 1894. — Bryce, James: The 
American Commonwealth, 2 vol., 3 ed., 1895. Of foremost importance. 

— Thorpe, F. N. : The Constitutional History of the American People, 
1776-1850, 2 vol., 1898. —Tucker, John Randolph : The Constitution 
of the United States, 1899. An7iual Beport of the American Historical 
Association, 1896, Vol. II., contains an important monograph on pro- 
posed Amendments to the Constitution. With the Constitutional His- 
tories should be studied Professor James Bradley Thayer's Cases on 
Constitutional Law ; or the shorter collection, with the same title, by 
Carl Evans Boyd. — Henry Hitchcock's American State Constitutions, 
in the Questions of the Day series, is also worthy of notice, as is the 
Annual Report of the American Bar Association. To facilitate the use_^ 
of original sources, a series of documents, comprising (1) American 
Federal Documents, (2) The American Constitutions, (3) Foreign Con- 
stitutions, has been arranged by F. A. Cleveland. 

COLLECTED WORKS ; MEMOIRS ; JOURNALS ; BIOG- 
RAPHIES : The Federalist. Essays by Alexander Hamilton, 
James Madison, and John Jay, for the most part originally published 
in the Independent Journal of New York in 1787 and 1788. More than 
twenty editions of the Federalist have been published. — Washington, 
George: The Writings of, 12vol., 1852. Volumes IX.-XII. useful. — 
Adams, John : The Works of, with a Life of the Author, 10 vol., 1856. 

— Jefferson, Thomas : The Writings of, 10 vol. New edition completed 
in 1899. — Hamilton, Alexander: Complete Works, 8 vol., 1888. — 
Madison, James : Letters and Other Writings of. Published by order 
of Congiess, 4 vol., 1865. — Monroe, James : The Writings of, Vol. II. 
(to 1796), 1899. — Clay, Henry : The Works of 6 vol., 1855. —Adams, 
John Quincy : Memoirs of, 12 vol., 1874-77. — Calhoun, John C. : 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 593 



The Works of, 6 vol., 1854-56. —"Webster, Daniel: The Works of, 
6 vol., 1853-56. — Seward, "William H. : The Works of, 4 vol., 1853-62. 
Sumner, Charles: Works of, 12 vol., 1875. — Garrison, "William 
Lloyd : Life of, 1805-1879, 4 vol., 1885. A noteworthy contribution to 
the history of the Antislavery Movement. — Lincoln, Abraham: Com- 
plete Works, 2 vol., 1894 ; Life of by Nicolay and Hay, 10 vol., 1890. — 
Grant, U. S. : Personal Memoirs of 2 vol., 1885. — Tilden, Samuel J. : 
The Writings and Speeches of, 2 vol., 1885. — McCulloch, Hugh: Men 
and Measures of Haifa Century, 1889. — American Statesmen series. 
Thirty-second volume published in 1900. Valuable. 

FINANCE : Government Publications, including : Annual Reports 
of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Mint, and the Com- 
missioner of Internal Revenue ; Annual Reports on the Internal Com- 
merce of the United States, the Foreign Commerce of the United States, 
and on Statistics of Railways ; Annual Statement of the Public Debt of 
the United States, and Quarterly Reports of Statistics, Bureau on Imports, 
Exports, etc. — Gallatin, Albert: The Writings of 3 vol., 1879. A 
valuable commentary on the earlier financial history of the country. — 
Elliot, Orrin Leslie : The Tariff Controversy in the United States, 1 789- 
1833, 1892. — BoUes, A. S. : Financial History of the United States, 
3 vol., 1885. — Sherman, John: Speeches and Reports on Finance and 
Taxation, 1879. — Thompson, R. "W. : The History of the Protective 
Tariff Laws, 1888. Defends protection. — Taussig, F. "W. : Tariff His- 
tory of the United States, 1893. A fair and moderate critic of protection. 

— Rabbeno, Ugo : The American Commercial Policy, 1895. Discusses 
leading economic vyriters. A scholarly work. — Laughlin, J. Laurence : 
The History of Bimetallism in the United States, 4 ed., 1897. — Noyes, 
A. D. : Thirty Years of American Finance (1865-96), 1898. — "Watson, 
D. K. : History of American Coinage, 1899. 

COUNTRIES ACQUIRED OR HELD SINCE THE CIVIL WAR 

Dall, "W. H. : Alaska and its Resources, 1870. — Bruce, Miner: 
Alaska, 1895. — Heilprin, Angelo : Alaska and the Klondike, 1899. 

Callahan, J. M. : Cuba and International Relations, 1899. A histori- 
cal monograph of great value in the study of the Cuban question. — 
Porter, R. B. : Industrial Cuba, 1899. — Matthews, Franklin: The 
New- Born Cuba, 1899. Shows what American rule has done. — Pepper, 
C. M. : To-morrow in Cuba, 1899. 

Ober, F. A.: Puerto Rico and its Resources, 1899. — Dinw^iddie, 
"William : Puerto Rico, Its Conditions and Possibilities, 1899. — 
Hamm, Margherita A. : Porto Rico, 1899. 

Blackman,'W. F. : The Making of Haioaii, 1899. — Young, Lucien : 
The Real Hawaii, 1899. — Carpenter, E. J. : America in Hawaii, 1899. 

— "Whitney, Caspar: Hawaiian America, 1899. 

"Worcester, Dean C. : The Philippine Islands, 1899. — Foreman. J. 
G. : The Philippine Islands, 1899. — Lala, Ramon Reyes : The Philip- 
pine Islands, 1899. — Bancroft, H. H. : The New Pacific, 1900. 
2q 



694 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



The literature upon these countries is fast multiplying, but is very 
unsatisfactory, and should be read with great caution. Most of it is the 
record of hastily formed impressions, and is written in an extremely parti- 
san spirit. It is particularly difficult to ascertain the truth regarding 
Hawaii. The report made by President Cleveland's commissioner (Mr. 
Blount) did not give the impression that its author carefully weighed the 
rights of the Americans as well as those of the native islanders ; while 
almost everything that has since been written on the subject presents 
only the American side. But a monograph by Von Hoist on "The 
Annexation of Hawaii " should be carefully read. 

MEXICO 

Hall, Basil : Extracts from a Journal written on the Coasts of Chile, 
Peru, and Mexico in the Years 1820, 1821, 1822, 2 vol., 1824. — Flint, 
H. M. : Mexico under Maximilian, 1867. — Bancroft, H. H. : History of 
Mexico, 6 vol., 1883-85.— "Wells, David A. : A Study of Mexico, 1887. 
Noll, A. H. : ^ Short History of Mexico, 1890.— Blake, TJ. R. : Life 
of Benito Juarez, 1894. — Butler, J. "W. : Sketches of Mexico, 1894. — 
Lummis, C. F. : The Awakening of a Nation; Mexico of To-day, 1898. 
— Romero, M. : Mexico and the United States, 1898. The most valuable 
single work on Mexico. — For Mexico and all the Spanish American 
countries the Bulletins of the United States Bureau of American 
Republics are a specially important source of information. The unceas- 
ing political changes that occur in most of these countries are recorded in 
Current History and Appleton's Annual Cyclopaedia. 

CENTRAL AMERICA 

GENERAL: Froebel, Julius: Seven Years' Travel in Central Amer- 
ica, 1853. — Squier, E. G. : States of Central America, 1858. — Stephens, 
J. S. : Incidents of Travel in Central America, 2 vol., 1867. — Belly, 
F^lix: A travers VAmerique centrale, 2 vol., 1872. — Bates, H. W. : 
Central and South America, 1882. — Bancroft, H. H. : History of Central 
America, 3 vol., 1882-83. — Avenel, H. : U Amerique Latine, 1892. 

SPECIAL : Peralta, Manuel M. : Costa Bica: its Climate, Consti- 
tution, and Besources, 1873. — BioUey, P. : Costa Bica and her Future, 
1889. — Calvo, J. B. : Bepublic of Costa Bica, 1890. — Shroeder, J. : 
Costa Bica State Immigration, 1894. 

Stoll, Otto : Guatemala, Beisen und Schilderungen aus den Jahren 
1S78-S3, 1886. — Brigham, T. : The Land of the Quetzal, 1887. 

Squier, E. G. : Honduras: Descriptive, Historical, Statistical, 1870. — 
Lombard, Thomas R. : The New Honduras, 1887. —Charles, C: 
Hond7iras, 1890. 

Squier, E. G. : Nicaragua, 2 vol., 1852. — Pector, Desire: ^tude 
^conomique sur la Bepublique de Nicaragua, 1893. — Colquhoim, A. R. : 
The Key of the Pacific, 1895. — Niederlein, G. : The State of Nicaragua, 
1898. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 595 



SOUTH AMERICA 

GENERAL : "Windsor's Narrative and Critical History of America, 
Vol. VIII., contains a full bibliography on the struggle for independence, 
p. 342 ; and an account of the struggle on p. 295. — Hackett, James : 
Narrative of an Expedition which sailed from England in IS 17 to join 
the South American Patriots, 1818. — Holstein, Ducoudray : Memoires 
de S. Bolivar, 1829. English translation, 1829. Reviewed by Caleb 
Gushing in the North American Review for January, 1829. — Miller, 
John : Memoirs of General Miller in the Service of the Republic of Perxi, 
1829. — Dundonald, Earl of : Narrative of Services in the Liberation of 
Chili, Peril, and Brazil, 2 vol., 1859. — Hassaurek, F. : Four Years 
among Spanish Americans, 1867. — Payne, E. J. : History of European 
Colonies, 1877. Touches upon the war for liberation. More scholarly 
than most works on South America. — "Watson, R. G. : Spanish and 
Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period, 2 vol., 1884. 
"The only comprehensive historical work on the whole of South America." 

— Vincent, F. : Round and about South America, 1888 ; The Republics 
of South America, 1889. — Mitr^, B. : Historia de San Martin, 4 vol., 
1890 ; The Emancipation of South America (a condensed translation, by 
W. Pilling, of the history of San Martin), 1893. — ChUd, Theodore : The 
Spanish American Republics, 1891. — Ford, I. N. : Tropical America, 
1893. — Crawfurd, R. : South American Sketches, 1898. 

SPECIAL: Sarmiento, D. F. : Life in the Argentine Republic in 
the Days of the Tyrants, 1868. — Turner, T. A.: Argentina and the 
Argentines, 1892. — Akers, C. E. : Argentine, Patagonian, and Chilean 
Sketches, 1893. 

Bonnelli, L. H. de : Travels in Bolivia, 2 vol., 1854. — Mathews, 
E. D. : Up the Amazon and 3Iadeira Rivers, through Bolivia and Peru, 
1879. —"Wiener, Charles: Perou et Bolivie, 1880. 

Dent, J. H. : ^ Year in Brazil, 1886. —"Wells, J. "W. : Three Thou- 
sand Miles through Brazil, 1886. — Levasseur, E. : Le Bresil, 1889. — 
Araujo, Oscar d' : Uldee Republicaine au Bresil, 1893. 

Markham, C. R. : The War between Chile and Peru, 1879-81, 1883. 
Russell, "W. H. : A Visit to Chile and the Nitrate Fields of Tarapaca, 
1890. — Hervey, H. M. : Dark Days in Chile, 1892. —Hancock, A. 
M. : A History of Chili, 1 893. — Smith, "W. Anderson: Temperate 
Chile, 1899. — Hall, Colonel F. : Colombia: Its Present State, etc., 
1871. — Pereira, R. S. : Les iStats-Unis de Colombie, 1883. — Nunez, 
R., and Jahay, H. : La Republique de Colombie, etc., 1893. — Scruggs, 
"W. L. : The Colombian and Veneztielan Republics, 1900. — Fleming, 
B. : Wanderungen in Ecuador, 1872. —Church, G. E. : Ecuador in 
1881. Report to the United States Government. — Simson, Alfred : 
Travels in the Wilds of Ecuador, 1887. 

Masterman, G. F. : Seven Eventful Years in Paraguay, 1869. — 
Kennedy, A. J. : La Plata, Brazil and Paraguay during the War, 1869. 

— "Wasbbiun, C. A. : The History of Paraguay. With Notes of Per- 



596 BIBLIOGRAPHY 



sonal Observations, 2 vol., 1871. — La Dardye, E. de B. : Paraguay: 
The Land and the People, etc., 1892. — Santos, C. R. : La Republica 
del Paraguay, 1897. 

Temple, Edmond : Travels in Various Parts of Peru, 2 vol., 1830. — 
Fuentes, Manuel A. : Lima, or Sketches of the Capital of Peru, 1866. 

— Hutchinson, T. J.: Two Years in Peru, 1874. — Squier, E. G. : 
Peru : Licidents of Travels and Exploration in the Land of the Incas, 
1877. — Clark, E. B. : Ttvelve Months in Peru, 1891. — Markham, C. R. : 
A History of Peru, 1892. 

Murray, Rev. J. H. : Travels in Uruguay, 1871. — Lomba, R. L. : 
La Republica Oriental del Uruguay, 1884. — Rumbold, Sir H. : The 
Great Silver Biver, 1888. 

Dance, C. D. : Four Years in Venezuela, 1876. — Spence, J. M. : 
The Land of Bolivar, 2 vol., 1878.— Curtis, W. E. : Venezuela, 1896. 

— Wood, W. E. : Venezuela ; or Two Years on the Spanish Main. — 
The Venezuela Boundary Question is best studied in the publications of 
the United States Government upon the subject, which vpill include the 
arguments before the tribunal v^hich met at Paris on June 15, 1899, and 
published its award on October 3. The British Blue Books may also be 
consulted. The Award itself, with a brief review of the case and ex- 
planatory maps, may be found in Current History, Vol. 9, p. 592. Con- 
sult also Scruggs's Colombian and Venezuelan Republics. 

South American politics have been so perturbed that they have seldom 
been treated by able historical writers. Professor Bernard Moses's The 
Establishment of Spanish Rule in America (1898) is a scholarly work ; but 
the volumes that describe the varying phases of South American life and 
politics, from the establishment of independence to the present day, are 
mostly superficial in character. Extensive use should be made of the 
Bulletins of the U. S. Bureau of American Republics, and of the Annuals 
and Magazines. 

LIBERIA 

Wilson, J. : Western Africa, 1856. — Hutchinson, E. : Impressions 
of Western Africa, 1858. — Stockwell, G. S. : The Republic of Liberia, 
1868. — Wauwermans, Colonel H. : Liberia, histoire de la fondation 
d'un etat negre libre, 1885. — Blyden, E. W. : Christianity, Islam, and 
the Negro Race, 1887. — MacPherson, J. H. T. : African Colonization : 
History of Liberia, 1891. In Johns Hopkins University Studies. 

HAITI 

Handelmann, J. : Geschichte von Haiti, 1856. — Bonneau, A. : Haiti, 
ses progres, son avenir, 1862. — Janvier, L. J. : La Republique d'' Haiti, 
1840-82, 1883 ; Les Constitutions d' Haiti, 1801-85, 1886. — St. John, 
Sir S. : Haiti, or the Black Republic, 1889. — Justin, J. : £tude sur les 
Institxitioiis Haitiennes, 1894. — Hill, Robert T. : Cuba and Porto Rico, 
1898. Contains some interesting chapters on Haiti and San Domingo. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 597 



SANTO DOMINGO 

Keim, D. B. R. : Santo Domingo, 1871. — Hazard, Samuel: Santo 
Domingo, Past and Present; with a Glance at Haiti, 1873. — Garcia, 
J. S. : Compendio de la historia de Santo Domingo, 1879. — Hill's Cuba 
and Porto Rico ; Bulletins of the United States Bureau of American 
Republics, for Santo Domingo and Haiti. 

JAPAN 

Reed, Sir E. J. : Japan : its History, Traditions, and Religions, 2 vol., 
1880. — Norman, H. : The Real Japan, 1892 ; The Peoples and Politics 
of the Far East, 1895. — Murray, D. : Japan (Story of the Nations), 
1894. —Johnston, J.: China and Formosa, 1897. — Knapp, A. M. : 
Feudal and Modern Japan, 2 vol., 1898. — Brinkley, Captain (Editor), 
Japan Described and Illustrated by Native Authorities, 1898. — Fraser, 
Mrs. Hugh: Letters from Japan, 2 vol., 1898. — Ransome, Stafford: 
Japan in Transition, 1899. An interesting account of Japan since the 
war with China. 

INDIA 

Williams, Sir Monier : Modern India and the Indians, 1879. — Reli- 
gious Life and Thought in India, 1883. — Temple, Sir R. : India in 1880, 
1881 ; Men and Events of 3Iy Time in India, 1882. — Smith, R. Bos- 
worth : The Life of Lord Lawrence, 1883. Valuable. — Wallace, 
Professor R. : India in 1887, 1888. —Hunter, Sir W. W. : editor of the 
series. Rulers of India, begun in 1890 ; The Indian Empire: Its History, 
People, and Prodticts, new ed., 1893. — Baden-Powell, B. H. : Land 
Systems of British India, 3 vol., 1892 ; A Short Account of the Land 
Revenue and its Administration in British India, 1894 ; The Indian Vil- 
lage Community, 1896. — Keene, H. S. ; History of India, 2 vol., 1893. 
— Lyall, Sir A. : The Rise of British Dominion in India, 1893. — Innes, 
M. L. : The Sepoy Revolt, 1897. — Frazer, R. W. : British hidia {Story 
of the Nations), 1897. — Dutt, Romesh C. : England and India, 1897. 
The views of an Indian who is favorably disposed toward English rule. — 
Ebert, Sir C. P. : The Government of India, 1898. 



SIAM 

Bowring, John: The Kingdom and People of Siam, 2 vol., 1857. — 
Grehan, A.: Le Royaume de Siam, 1868. — Leonowens, Mrs. A. H. : 
The English Governess at the Siamese Court, 1870. — Vincent, Frank: 
The Land of the White Elephant, 1889. — MacGregor, J. : Through the 
Buffer State, 1896. — Young, E. : The Kingdom of the Yellow Robe, 
1898. — For recent history and the introduction of modern improvements 
the Magazines should be used with the help of Poole's Index. 



INDEX 



Abd-el-Kader, 35 ; career, 39-45 ; death, 

50. 
Abdul Hamid II., 179. 
Abdul Medjid, Sultan of Turkey, 179. 
AbeFdeen, Lord, 293. 
Abolitionists, 398, 411-412, 418-419, 

420, 422, 540. 
Abyssinia, 92, 299. 
Achin, 221-222. 
Act of Mediation, of Switzerland, 251, 

252, 253. 
Adams, Charles Francis, 410. 
Adams, John, Second President of the 

United States, 390-391. 
Adams, John Quincy, 400-402. 
Addington, 2G9, 270. 
Afghanistan, 291, 305-306, 307. 
Africa, 210. 
Aguinaldo, 467. 

Alabama Claims, 297, 303, 431, 470. 
Alaska, 430, 469-470. 
Albanians, 155, 175-176. 
Alberoni, Cardinal, 131. 
Albert, son-in-law of Philip II., 123. 
Alexander of Battenberg, ruler of 

Bulgaria, 171-174. 
Alexander of Parma, 122. 
Alexander the Great, 26. 
Alexander I., Tsar of Russia, 181-182, 

184, 192. 
Alexander II., Tsar of Russia, 184- 

189. 
Alexander III., Tsar of Russia, 173, 

189-190. 
Alexander, Prince of Servia (1842), 

159. 
Alexander, King of Servia (1893) , 160. 
Alexandria, bombardment of, 309. 
Alfaro, General, President of Ecuador, 

627. 



Alfonso XII., King of Spain, 105-108. 
Alfonso XIII., King of Spain, 107. 
Alfonso VI., of Portugal, 113. 
Alfonso de Albuquerque, 113. 
Alfonso Henriques, King of Portugal, 

114. 
Alfred, Prince, of England, 164. 
Algeria, subdued by France, 35. 
Allied fleets sink Turkish fleet, 162. 
Alonso, Mariano R., 527. 
Alsace, 47, 60, 61, 208. 
Altgeld, Governor, 459. 
Althing, the legislature of Iceland, 

234-235. 
Alvarez, General, 483-484. 
Amadeus, King of Spain, 105. 
American Colonization Society, 539- 

540. 
Anderson, Major, 422. 
Andorra, 132-134. • 
Andrade, President of Venezuela, 532. 
Andrassy, Count, 145. 
Anglo-American Commission, Joint, 

469. 
Anglo-Saxons, 6-8. 
Antwerp, siege of, 1832. 
Arabi Pasha, 309. 
Arabs in Greece, 162. 
Aragon, 113-114. 

Arce, General, President of the Re- 
public of Central America, 493. 
Argentine Republic, 507, 518-521, 522, 

527. 
Arica, claimed by Peru and Chili, 529. 
Armenians, 176, 317-318. 
Arnold, Matthew, " Obermana once 

more," 567. 
Arthur, Chester A., 441-442. 
Artigas, Jose, dictator of Uruguay, 

517. 



599 



600 



INDEX 



Artois, Count of, see Charles X. 

Ashley, Lord, see Shaftesbury, Earl of. 

Asia, not congenial to constitutional 
government, 9. 

August, Prince of Leuchtenberg, 120. 

Aumale, Due d', 37. 

Ausgleich, 148-149, 152. 

Australia, 10, 192, 347-355; convict 
settlement, 347; finances, 349-350; 
form of government, 350-356, 570; 
mineral wealth, 348-349; sheep rais- 
ing industry, 348. 

Australian ballot in England, 303. 

Australian colonies, 8. 

Austria-Hungary, 137-153, 198-293, 
205, 207-208; and Servia, 159; and 
the German Confederation, 139, 143; 
and San Marino, 131 ; annexes Hol- 
stein, 205; army and navy, 153; 
Clericals, 147, 149; constitutions, 
142-145, 152; Czech language made 
official, 147-149 ; combines with Prus- 
sia and Piedmont to restore Louis 
XVL, 19-20; despotic government, 
139, 142-143, 146 ; early history, 137- 
138; electoral reform bill (1896), 
146 ; finances, 153 ; governed for the 
aristocracy, 1; in Italy, 76, 78-79, 
84-85, 88-89 ; insurrection of Vienna 
(1848) , 140 ; intervenes between Bul- 
garia and Servia, 173 ; Napoleon in, 
139; opposed to democracy, 139; 
population, 147; progress, 147; race 
problem, 137-138, 147; Reichsrath, 
147-149; religion, 138, 152-153; war 
with Denmark (1864), 143. 

Austrian-Germans, 5. 

Austrian War of Succession, 123. 

Austro-Prussian War, 205. 

Avellaneda, President of the Argentine 
Republic, 519. 

Baden, 25, 202. 

Badeni, Count, head of the Austrian 

Ministry, 147. 
Bajazet, 171. 
Balfour, Sir Arthur, 326. 
Balkan States, 154-179. 
Balmaceda, Jose Manuel, despotic 

ruler of Chili, 524. 
Baratieri, General, 92. 
Barbary pirates, 392. 395. 



Barrios, Gerardo, President of Salva- 
dor, 495. 

Barrios, Jose Maria Reina, ruler of 
Guatemala, 502. 

Barrios, Justo Ruflino, ruler of Guate- 
mala, 496-498. 

Basutoland, 370. 

Batavian Republic, 216. 

Battles : Amlsalagi, 92 ; Auerstadt, 25 ; 
Austerlitz, 25, 270; Ayacucho, 509- 
510 ; Boyaca, 508 ; Calpulalpan, 484 ; 
Carabobo, 508, 510, 512; Chacabuco, 
511 ; Custozza, 81, 88, 91; Fort Sum- 
ter, 422; Goito, 81; Gravelotte, 44; 
Hohenlinden, 22 ; Jemappes, 34; 
Jena, 25 ; Koniggratz, 88 ; Lake Erie, 
415; Leipsic, 25, 243; Magenta, 42, 
84; Maipo, 508, 511, 523; Majuba 
Hill, 307 ; Manila Bay, 465 ; Marengo, 
22 ; Metz, 44, 46 ; Navarino, 162, 278; 
Nile, 21; Novara, 82; Omdurman, 
323 ; Pastrengo, 81 ; Pichincha, 509- 
510; Quebec, 331; Saarbriicken, 44; 
Santiago, 465; Sedan, 44, 46, 89; 
Solferino, 42, 84; Tchernaya, 83; 
Tel-el-Kebir, 309 ; Trafalgar, 25, 270 ; 
Valmy, 34; Wagram,25; Waterloo, 
26 ; Worth, 44 ; Yalu River, 553. 

Bavaria, 199, 201. 

Bazaine, Marshal, 44, 46. 

Beaconsfield, Lord, 173, 278, 298, 300, 
303-307, 311. 

Bechuanaland Protectorate, 371, 373. 

Belfort, 47. 

Belgium, 4,122-129; and Austria, 123; 
Celtic element in population, 123; 
Clerical party, 125, 128 ; education, 
125, 128 ; finances, 128 ; form of gov- 
ernment, 124-129; Liberal party, 
125-127 ; occupied by France, 20 ; 
population, 129; religion, 123, 126, 
128 ; retained by France, 22; revolt of 
1830, 123-124, 128 ; socialists in, 126- 
127 ; temperament of the people, 122- 
123 ; union with Holland, 123-134. 

Bell, John, presidential candidate in 
1860, 419, 420. 

Bern, Hungarian general, 142. 

Benefices Act, 326. 

Beresford, Lord, 116. 

Bering Sea seal fisheries, 341-342, 460, 
469^70. 



INDEX 



601 



Berlin, Congress of, 146, 177. 189, 304- 
305, 318. 

Berlin decree, 270. 

Bernadotte, Jean (see Charles XIV., 
King of Sweden), 240. 

Berri, Duchess of, 36. 

Berri, Duke of, 30, 33. 

Berri-berri, 222. 

Bessarabia, 169, 184. 

Beust, Baron von, 144. 

Bid well, John, presidential candidate 
of the Prohibitionists, 456. 

Bismarck, Prince, 47, 144, 203-211, 571. 

Bismarck Isles, 210. 

Black Sea, Russia loses control of, 
42. 

Black George, 157-158. 

Blaine, James G., 434, 441, 444, 453. 

Blair, Frank P., 430. 

Blanco, Guzman, President of Vene- 
zuela, 531-532. 

Bloemfontein, 378. 

Bliicher, General, 26. 

Boers, 319-320, 366-367, 373-379, 

Bogran, President of Honduras, 497. 

Bohemia, 138, 140, 206; Czech lan- 
guage made official in, 147, 149. 

Bolivar, Simon, 507-515. 

Bolivia. 507, 513-514, 516-518, 521, 628- 
529. 

Bomba, King (see Ferdinand II.), 85. 

Bonaparte, Caroline, 76. 

Bonaparte, Jerome Napoleon, 59. 

Bonaparte, Joseph, 25, 76, 97-98. 

Bonaparte, Prince Louis Napoleon, 67. 

Bonaparte, Prince Napoleon, 59. 

Bonaparte, Prince Victor Napoleon, 
59, 62, 67. 

Bonapartists, 35, 38, 50, 51, 53, 54, 58, 
59, 62. 

Bordeaux, 46. 

Borris, Prince of Bulgaria, 175. 

Bosnia, 146. 

Boulanger, General, 62-63, 71. 

Boulogne, 39. 

Bourbons, deprived of Catholic sup- 
port by Bonaparte, 22. 

Bourbons, restoration of, 30. 

Bragan9a, House of, 115, 117. 

Brazil, 114-117, 506, 517-518, 522-523, 
527. 

Breckenridge, J. C, 417, 419-420. 



Brienne, 17. 

Bright, John, 275, 288, 293, 313. 

British South Africa Company, 372. 

Broglie, Due de, 53, 56. 

Brooks, Preston S., 416. 

Brougham, Lord, 283. 

Brown, B. Gratz,432. 

Brown, John, 418-419. 

Browne, Colonel, 361. 

Bryan, William J., 462. 

Buchanan, James, 417-418, 421. 

Buckner, Governor, 463. 

Buenos Ayres, 506-508, 510, 513-514, 
516-519. 

Buffet, French Prime Minister, 53. 

Bulgaria, 170-176; Constitution, 175; 
education, 175; National Assembly, 
171-172; religion, 175; republican 
principles, 172. 

Bulgarian and Servian war, 173. 

Bulgarians, 156, 159. 

Bureaucracy in France, 61. 

Burlingame, Anson, 416. 

Burr, Aaron, 391. 

Butler, Senator, 416. 

Butt, Isaac, leader of the Irish Liber- 
als, 302, 307. 

Byron, Lord, 162, 273, 511. 

Bytown (see Ottawa) , 334. 

Cabot, John, 345. 

Cadiz, Don Francisco of Assisi, Duke 
of, 37, 102. 

Caesar, Julius, 26. 

Caffarel, General, and the Limousin 
scandal, 62. 

Calhoun, J. C, 401, 412. 

California, 409-411. 

Calonne, 17. 

Cambridge, University of, 274. 

Camoens, Luis de, 115. 

Campos, Martinez, 108-109. 

Canada, Dominion of, 10; 331-345; 
Fisheries question, 341, 431, 469; 
Conservative party, 339-341 ; edu- 
cation, 343; government, 332-338; 
Liberal party, 339-340, 343-314; 
Loyalists from America emigrate 
to, 331 ; reciprocity with the United 
States, 338, 341, 345; relations with 
the United Statec, 338-339, 431, 
469-470; Scotch element in, 331; 



602 



INDEX 



separation into Upper and Lower 
Canada, 332 ; tariif question, 344. 

Canadian Pacific Railroad, 340. 

Canning, George, 162, 183, 270-272, 
275, 277-278, 518. 

Canovas del Castillo, 107, 108. 

Cape Breton, 331. 

Cape Colony, 8, 366-373. 

Capodistrias, John, 162-163. 

Caprivi, General. 211. 

Carbonari, the, 77, 78, 79. 

Carlos I., King of Portugal, 120. 

Carlos VII., 105. 

Carlos, Don, 100-101, 110. 

Carlotta, Queen of Portugal, 117, 118. 

Carlsbad Congress, 200. 

Carnot, President, 62, 63, 65. 

Caroline, Queen of England, 283. 

Caroline Islands, 210. 

Carrera, Central American despot, 
494-497. 

Casimir-Perier, French Prime Minis- 
ter, 65. 

Cassation, Court of, 66, 68, 73. 

Castelar, Emilio, 106. 

Castile, 113, 114. 

Catherine II. of Russia, 180, 187. 

Catholic Church, in Austria, 153; in 
Belgium, 126, 128; in Canada, 343- 
344: in England, 269-270, 278-279; 
in France, 22, 56; in Germany, 208- 
209; in Ireland, 266-267, 279, 300- 
301 ; in Switzerland, 255-256. 

Cavendish, Lord Frederick, murdered, 
308. 

Cavour, Camillo Benso, Count di, 
82-84, 87. 

Celman, Juarez, President of the 
Argentine Republic, 520. 

Central America, 490-505; allied to 
Latin nations, 8 ; annexed by Mexico, 
491 ; becomes independent, 491 ; 
Church party, 495^96; federation 
in, 491-495, 497-501 ; Liberal party, 
491^94; Republic of, 492-494; re- 
volts from Spain, 490-491; Serviles 
in, 491-493. 

Cetewayo, chief of the Zulus, 306. 

Chamberlain, Joseph, 320, 354, 376. 

Chambord, Count of, 50, 51, 54, 59. 

Charlemagne, 133, 137. 

Charles I., King of England, 17. 



Charles III., King of Spain, 97. 
Charles IV., King of Spain, 97, 98. 
Charles V., Emperor of Austria, 96, 

197. 
Charles X., King of France, 31-33 ; 79. 
Charles XII., King of Sweden, 237, 

245. 
Charles XIII. , King of Sweden, 238- 

240, 243-245. 
Charles XIV., King of Sweden, 240, 

243. 
Charles XV., King of Sweden, 241-242. 
Charles of Hohenzollern-Sigmariugen, 

King of Rumania, 169-170. 
Charles Albert of Savoy, 78, 81, 82, 87. 
Charles Felix, 78, 81. 
Chassepot rifle, 43. 
Chauvinism in France, 60. 
Chicago riot, 459, 
Chicapos, 491. 
Chili, 507-508, 511, 521-523, 525, 528- 

629. 
China, 190, 323-325 ; cedes Port Arthur 

to Russia, 324; partition of, 323- 

325; relations with England, 291- 

292, 323-325; war with Japan, 

552-554. 
Chiselhurst, 44. 

Christian I., King of Denmark, 224. 
Christian II., King of Denmark, 224. 
Christian VII., King of Denmark, 225. 
Christian VIII., King of Denmark, 

226. 
Christian IX., King of Denmark, 204, 

230, 234-235. 
Christian, Prince of Gliicksburg, 229. 
Christian Augustus, Regent of Nor- 
way, 240. 
Christian Frederick, King of Norway, 

243. 
Chulalongkorn, King of Siam, 69, 

565-566. 
Circassians, 171. 

Citizen King, see Louis Philippe. 
Clay, Henry, 399-400, 404, 408, 411-412, 

539. 
Clement XII., Pope of Rome, 13. 
Cleveland, President, 321,444-446,450, 

455-462. 
Cobden, Richard, 288. 
Cochrane, Lord Thomas, 511. 
Code, Napoleon, 544. 



INDEX 



603 



Colfax, Schuyler, 430. 

Colombia, Republic of, 513-516, 525- 

526, 545. 
Comonfort, General Ignacio, 484. 
Compromise of Zanyon, 108. 
Confederate States of America, 420, 

422-423. 
Confederation of the Rhine, 139, 143, 

198-199. 
Congo Free State, 322-323. 
Congress of Berlin, 146, 177, 189. 
Congress of Paris, 83. 
Congress of Vienna, 28-29, 77, 123, 

198, 217, 253. 
Consulate, established, 21; how con- 
stituted, 22. 
Cook, Captain, 347, 357. 
Cordeliers, 18. 
Corsica, 21. 

Cortez, Fernando, 479, 490. 
Costa, Italian Socialist, 90. 
Costa Rica, 493, 494. 
Coxey, American agitator, 459. 
Credit Mobilier, 433. 
Crete, 163-166. 
Crimean War, 41, 42, 183-184, 292-294, 

318. 
Crispi, 90. 
Croatia, 141, 151. 
Crusades, 3. 
Crystal Palace exhibition in New 

York, 415. 
Cuba, 105, 107-110, 461, 464-466, 471. 
Cumberland, Duke of, 286. 
Cushing, Caleb, 100. 
Cuza, Prince of Rumania, 169. 
Czechs, 5, 147. 

Dahra, caves of, 35. 

Dallas, George M., 408. 

Damaraland, 210. 

Dampier, English buccaneer, 347. 

Danes, temperament of, 5. 

Darmstadt, 199. 

Davis, David, 435. 

Davis, Jefferson, 413, 420, 426. 

Dayton, William L., 417. 

Deak, Francis, 142. 

Decatur, Commodore, 392, 395. 

Decazes, Duke, 30. 

De Cissey, French Prime Minister, 53. 

De Laveleye, ^mile, 146. 



Delyannis, Greek Prime Minister, 165. 

Denmark, 143, 204, 224-232; annexes 
Sweden, Schleswig, and Holstein, 
224; cedes Norway to Sweden, 225; 
condition before the French Revolu- 
tion, 5 ; Liberal party, 227-228, 230- 
231 ; loses Schleswig, 227 ; serfdom 
in, 224-225. 

Depretis, Italian statesman, 90. 

Derby, Lord, 296, 298-300. 

Dessalines, despot of Haiti, 543. 

De Staal, Russian diplomatist, 191. 

Devil's Island, 68. 

Dewey, Admiral, 465. 

Diaz, Bartholomew, 115. 

Diaz, Portirio, 486, 488, 497-498. 

Disraeli, Benjamin, see Beaconsfield, 
Lord. 

Dobrudja, 169. 

Donelson, Andrew J., 417. 

Douglas, Stephen A., 413, 415, 419-420. 

Dred Scott Decision, 418-419. 

Dreyfus, Captain, 65-69. 

Dublin Parliament, 267. 

Dufaure, French Prime Minister, 54. 

Dufour, Geueral, 255. 

Durham, Lord, 333, 334, 358. 

Dutch Republic, see Holland. 

Dutch, temperament of, 5. 

Eastern Rumelia annexed to Bulgaria, 
172. 

Ecuador, 508-509, 513-516, 526. 

Egypt, expedition of Napoleon to, 21. 

Elgin, Lord, 334. 

Emma, Princess of Waldeck-Pyrmont 
and Regent of Holland, 222. 

Engelbrekt, Swedish patriot, 239. 

Enghien, Due de, 24. 

England, 1, 570 ; Abyssinian War, 299; 
alienated from France by the Span- 
ish marriages, 36-37; Allotment Act, 
312-313 ; army, 330 ; attitude toward 
America during the Civil War, 296- 
297; Chartist movement, 289-290; 
Church of England, 274, 284, 303, 
326-327, 329; conflicts with France 
in Africa, 322-323 ; Conservative and 
Liberal parties, 61 ; Conservative 
party, 275, 281, 325; corn laws, 273, 
288, 296; Corporation Reform Act, 
284; Crystal Palace exhibition, 290; 



604 



INDEX 



Dissenters in, 284, 327; education, 
2B9, 313; Egyptian War, 308-310; 
Electoral Reform Bill, 282, 316; 
fears Germany commercially, 325; 
finances, 272-273, 276, 329; foreign 
policy under Disraeli, 304-306, 370- 
372 ; foreign wars, 291-297, 366-367, 
373-379; free trade, 288-299, 325; 
Home Rule, 302, 307-308, 311-312, 
314-316; House of Lords, 275, 281, 
314-315 ; invasion of Spain, 271-272 ; 
Irish discontent, 300-302; Irish Land 
Bill (1870) , 302, 308 ; Irish Land Bill 
(1881), 311; laboring classes, 267, 
272-273, 276-277, 287, 289 ; landown- 
ers, 273, 287; Liberal party, 275, 
315-317 ; Local Government Board 
for Scotland, 316 ; Navigation Laws, 
288; navy, 327, 330; opium traffic 
with China, 291 ; parliamentary gov- 
ernment, 265, 266, 268-269; penal 
code, 267, 284; penny postage, 286; 
policy in India, 291, 561-563; re- 
forms, 303-304, 310, 325; relations 
with Russia, 292-294, 304-305, 3213- 
325; sentiment in regard to Turkish 
atrocities in Armenia, 317-318 ; South 
African complications, 318-320, 36.5- 
379; suffrage, 279-284, 296, 299, 310- 
311; Test Act repealed, 278; Tory 
party, 270, 274-275, 288; trade- 
unions, 276 ; upholds Turkey against 
Russia, 183, 292 ; Venezuela question, 
321, 460, 470, 532-533; war with 
France, 269 ; war with the Trans- 
vaal, 305-307 ; Whig party, 274-275 ; 
Zulu war, 306. 

English, W. H., Democratic vice-pres- 
idential candidate, 441. 

Epaminondas, 26. 

Eric, King of Sweden, 236. 

Erythrfea, 92. 

Espartero, Spanish general and states- 
man, 101, 102, 103, 104t 

Esterhazy, Colonel, 66, 68. 

Estrup, Jacol), Danish statesman, 231. 

Eugenie, Empress of the French, 41, 
43. 

Everett, Edward, 419-420. 

Fashoda, 323. 
Faure, Felix, 65-68. 



Favre, Jules, 46. 

Federal Pact of Switzerland, 253, 254. 

Federigo, Duke of Urbino, 131. 

Fenians, 299. 

Ferdinand I., Emperor of Austria, 
140-141, 201. 

Ferdinand I., of Naples, 77, 78. 

Ferdinand of Castile, King of Spain, 
96, 114. 

Ferdinand II., of Naples, 81, 82, 85. 

Ferdinand VII., King of Spain, 30, 37, 
97-100, 481. 

Ferdinand, Prince of Bulgaria, 174. 

Ferdinand, Prince of Coburg, 120. 

Ferry, Jules, 63. 

Fielding, W. S., Canadian Minister of 
Finance, 344. 

Fillmore, Millard, 410, 417. 

Finland, ceded to Russia, 238. 

Finns, 192. 

Fitch, John, inventor of the steam- 
boat, 393. 

Flanders, Count of, 169. 

Flemings, 122, 123. 

Floquet, Prime Minister, duel with 
Boulanger, 63. 

Flores, General, of Ecuador, 515. 

Foix, Count of, suzerain of Andorra, 
133. 

Ford's Theatre, 423. 

Forest States of Switzerland, 249. 

Formosa, 551, 554-555, 558-559. 

Foster, J. W., American expert on the 
seal fisheries question, 342. 

Fox, Charles James, 270, 275. 

France, 15-74, 20(5-208 ; aggressions in 
Africa, 322-323 ; in Siam, 565 ; army 
and navy, 74 ; Bank of, 24 ; bureau- 
cracy, 61 ; centralization perpetuated 
by Napoleon, 61; injurious to the 
Republic, 61 ; character of democ- 
racy, 61 ; clergy, 6, 17 ; Code Napo- 
leon, 23; Commune of 1871, 47, 51; 
Communists of 1871 granted am- 
nesty, 56 ; Constituent Assembly, of 
1879 (see National Assembly of), 
39; Constitutionalists, 34, 38; Con- 
stitutions, 18, 19, 29, 39, 40, 54; 
Court of Cassation, 66; courts, 23, 
72-73; Declaration of Rights, 18; 
democracy, 33, 61, 70 ; the Directory, 
how constituted, 19-20; insurrection 



INDEX 



606 



against, 20; overthrow, 21; educa- 
tion, 19, 23, 54, 73 ; Empire collapses, 
89 ; extravagance of the court, 15-lG ; 
finances, 16, 17, 20, 44, 57, 58, 73, 74 ; 
First and Second Empires compared, 
44; franchise, 29, 71 ; free trade, 44, 
49; frequent changes of ministries, 
61 ; fusion of the Monarchists, 50 ; 
" Government of National Defence," 
44; great and prosperous under Na- 
poleon III., 42-43; Imperialists, 52, 

54, 59, 63, 64; indemnity paid to Ger- 
many, 47, 49, 51, 57; interferes in 
Mexican affairs, 485 ; July revolution 
of 1830, 79; lack of public opinion, 
38; Legislative Assembly of the 
French Revolution, 18; Legitimists, 
34, 38, 49, 52, 54 ; Monarchists, 51, 53, 

55, 59, 62; monarchy in, 48-51, 54; 
National Assembly of 1789, 17-18; of 
1848, 40 ; of the Third Republic, 46, 
48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 58 ; national 
convention of the French Re vol ution , 
19; National Guard disbanded, 31; 
national workshops, 39; no])les ex- 
empted from taxation, 15; their vir- 
tues and vices, 15, 16; oppose the 
third estate, 17; opposed to the 
Third Republic, 59 ; parties in, 34-35, 
38, 48-50, 52, 54, 58-59, 61, 63, 64; 
peerage restored, 30 ; people, condi- 
tion of before French Revolution, 2 ; 
oppression of, 15 ; grow prosperous 
after Bourbon restoration, 32; not 
ready for self-government, 38 ; have 
made their will respected, 70 ; politi- 
cal restlessness, 8, 69; population 
almost stationary, 60; hopes to re- 
gain Alsace and Lorraine, 61 ; pop- 
ulation, 60; the press, freedom 
menaced by Charles XII., 31, 32; 
criticises the government, 51 ; freed 
from restrictions, 54; Prince Impe- 
rial, 59 ; prior to the Revolution, 15 ; 
the First Republic, 17-19 ; the Second 
Republic, .39-40; the Third estab- 
lished, 47; menaced by the fusion, 
50; gains strength, 51, 62, 63; con- 
flict with MacMahon, 52-54 ; dangers 
of, 57-62 ; stability of, 70-71 ; organ- 
ization of, 71-74; riots, 36, .39, 47; 
seeks the friendship of Russia, 60; 



Senate created by the Third Repub- 
lic, 52 ; statistics, 71-74 ; suffrage, 39, 
40; the three estates, 17, 18; the tri- 
color adopted by Louis Philippe, 34; 
repudiated by the Count of Cham- 
bord, 50; unites with England 
against Russia, 183. 

Francia, Jose Gaspar Rodriguez, des- 
pot of Paraguay, 517, .527. 

Francis I., Emperor of Austria, 138, 
198. 

Francis II., of Austria, 201. 

Francis II., of Naples, 85, 86. 

Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria, 
141-142, 144, 149, 183, 246. 

Franco-Prussian War, 43-46, 60, 105, 
206, 207. 

Frederick II., Emperor of Germany, 
211. 

Frederick III., King of Denmark, 224- 
225. 

Frederick VI., King of Denmark, 226, 
243. 

Frederick VII., King of Denmark, 204, 
227, 229, 242. 

Frederick VIII., King of Denmark, 234. 

Frederick, Prince of Hesse, 229. 

Frederick William III., King of Prus- 
sia, 198, 200, 201. 

Frederick William IV., King of Prus- 
sia, 198, 201, 202, 204. 

Freemasons, 115. 

Fremont, John C, 417. 

French Revolution, arouses patriotism 
in Greece, 161 ; changes accom- 
plished by, 20; controlled by Pari- 
sian populace, 17 ; creates an elective 
judiciary, 23; effect of in Germany, 
198; effect of in Holland, 215; effect 
of in Russia, lKO-181 ; effect of in 
Switzerland, 250, 251 ; reaction from, 
29. 

French Shore question, 345. 

Frere, Sir Bartle, 306. 

Fulton, Robert, and the steamer Cler' 
mont, 393. 

Gaeta, 86. 
Galicia, 113. 

Gallifet, General, 68, 69. 
Garcia, Dr. Manuel, of Buenos Ayies, 
518. 



606 



INDEX 



Garfield, James A., 441-442, 470. 

Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 80, 82, 80, 87, 
88. 

Genet, French emissary to the United 
States, 389. 

Genoa, 76, 77, 80. 

George I., King of Greece, 164, 165, 
167, 230. 

George III., King of England, 269-270, 
276-277. 

George IV., King of England, 277, 279, 
283. 

George, Prince of Greece, made High 
Commissioner of Crete, 166. 

George, Henry, 489. 

German, the, 5. 

German States, governed for the aris- 
tocracy, 1. 

German Confederation, 199, 202, 203, 
206. 

Germany, 5, 197-214, 569 ; army, 204, 
205, 208, 211, 212, 214 ; composition 
of the Empire, 212-214; Constitu- 
tional Convention of 1848, 202; de- 
mocracy, 213; effect of the French 
Revolution of 1830, 200; of 1848, 
201, 202; education, 197, 198, 214; 
finances, 214; foreign colonization, 
210 ; May Laws, 208 ; National As- 
sembly, 202, 207; new civil code, 
212; population, 60; the Refor- 
mation, 197; Reichstag, 207, 208, 209, 
210, 211, 213, 214; religion, 214; 
scholarship, 203 ; Socialists, 209-210, 
213 ; State socialism, 210 ; treaty with 
Russia, 208 ; unification, 207, 211. 

Ghibellines, the, 75. 

Giddings, Joshua R., 416. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 345. 

Gladstone, W. E., 85, 220, 275, 278, 
281, 298-318, 326, 571. 

Goethe, 203. . 

Golchowski, Count, Austro-Hungarian 
statesman, 145. 

Gonzalez, Manuel, Mexican President, 
486. 

Gordon, General, 309-310. 

Gorgei, Hungarian general, 142. 

Graham, William A., "Whig vice-pres- 
idential candidate, 413. 

Gramont, Due de, 43. 

Grant, General U. S., 430-433, 441. 



Great Britain and her Colonies, 265- 
379. 

Great Britain, area, population and 
government, 328-330 ; a colonizing 
power, 327-328. 

Greece, 61-167 ; Constitution, 161-162, 
163, 164 ; democratic spirit, 163, 166 ; 
indemuity paid Turkey, 166; Na- 
tional Assembly (1822) , 161 ; secret 
political societies, 161, 165; war with 
Turkey, 162, 165-166, 278. 

Greeks, character of, 167; in Euro- 
pean Turkey, 155. 

Greeley, Horace, 432, 444. 

Grenville, Lord, 270, 271, 278. 

Grevy, M. Jules, 55-57, 62. 

Grey, Lord, 275, 282-283. 

Grey, Sir George, 360. 

Grosgurin, French oflficer in Siam, 69. 

Guatemala, 490-499, 501-502. 

Guelfs, 75. 

Guerrero, General, Mexican revolu- 
tionary leader, 480. 

Guizot, F., 36, 37, 275. 

Gustavus II., King of Sweden, 235. 

Gustavus III., reasserts royal pre- 
rogative in Sweden, 237. 

Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, 
237, 245. 

Gustavus Vasa, 237, 242. 

Haiti, 542-544, 546. 

Hale, John P., 413. 

Ham, citadel of, 39. 

Hamilton, Alexander, 384, 387-388. 

Hamlin, Hannibal, 419-420. 

Hancock, Winfield S., 441. 

Hanover, 206, 286. 

Hapsburg, House of, 138, 143. 

Harcourt, Sir William, opposes ritual- 
ism, 326. 

Harold Fairhair, King of Norway, 236. 

Harrison, Benjamin, 450-453, 455-456, 
462, 532. 

Harrison, William Henry, 405-407. 

Hartington, Lord, 220. 

Havelock, General, 295. 

Hawaii, 461, 467. 

Hayes, Rutherford B., 434, 436-437, 
439, 440, 441. 

Haymerle, Baron, Austro-Hungarian 
statesman, 145. 



INDEX 



607 



Hayne, Robert, 404. 

Helvetian Club, 250. 

Helvetic Republic, 251. 

Helvetic Society, 250, 254. 

Hendricks, Thomas A., 434, 444. 

Henry H., King of England, 301. 

Henry V., title claimed by the Count 
of Chambord, 51. 

Henry, Count of Burgundy, 114. 

Henry, Colonel, and the Dreyfus Case, 
67. 

Herzegovina, 146. 

Hesse, 199, 200. 

Hidalgo y Costilla, Miguel, Mexican 
revolutionary leader, 480. 

Hill, Sir Rowland, 286. 

Hobart, Garret A., 462. 

Hohenlohe, Prince, 212. 

Holland, 215-223; abolition of slavery 
in the West Indies, 218-219; as a 
Republic, 215 ; classed with the Ger- 
manic countries, 5; Constitution, 
216, 218, 219, 223; Liberal party, 218, 
219, 220, 221; relations with Bel- 
gium, 123, 124; reverts to monarchy, 
216; States-General, 218, 219, 221, 
223 ; subjugated by France, 20; war 
with England, 215. 

Holstein-Gottorp, House of, 239. 

Holy Alliance, .30, 78, 100, 117, 139, 
183, 277-278, 294. 

Holy Roman Empire, 138, 197, 198. 

Honduras, 490, 493-496, 498, 499, 502, 
503. 

Honshu, 547, 559. 

Hospodars (in the Danubian Princi- 
palities), 167, 168. 

Hudson Bay Company, 339. 

Humbert IV., King of Italy, 90-91. 

Hundred Days, the, 26. 

Hungary, 138, 140-141, 142, 143, 144, 
148, 149-152, 153 ; education and art, 
150; prosperity, 150; race problem, 
150 ; socialism, 151. 

Iceland, 233-235. 

Iglesias, Mexican politician, 486. 

Imperial federation of Great Britain 
and her Colonies, 344. 

Income tax in the United States, 460. 

India, 9, 291, 561-564; form of govern- 
ment, 561-562; Sepoy Mutiny, 294. 



Inquisition, 77; in Portugal, 114; in 
Spain, 96, 99, 100, 101. 

Inukai, Japanese statesman, 557. 

Ireland, 266-267, 300-301, 302 ; Act of 
Union, 300; coercion acts, 301, 308; 
disestablishment of the Protestant 
Church, 300 ; Fenian agitation, 299 ; 
Home Rule, 302, 307-308, 311-312, 
314-316; Land League, 300, 307-308; 
National League, 312 ; National Par- 
liament, 266 ; obtains local self-gov- 
ernment, 326. 

Isabel, daughter of Philip II. of Spain, 
123. 

Isabella II., Queen of Spain, 100, 101, 
102, 105. 

Isabella of Aragon, Queen of Spain, 
96, 114. 

Isabella Maria, Regent of Portugal,117. 

Istria, 89. 

Itagaki, Count, Japanese statesman, 
555, 557. 

Italy, 75-95, 205, 206, 208 ; at the close 
of the eighteenth century, 75-76; 
Chinese complications, 91 ; colonial 
policy, 91 ; conflicting parties, 75 ; 
Constitutions, 77, 78; education 
made compulsory, 91 ; famine in, 
91; finances, 92, 93, 95; first Par- 
liament, in 1861, 87, 90; general 
progress, 91-95; government, 94; 
government prior to the French Rev- 
olution, 1 ; in the Crimean War, 83; 
political unrest, 4, 8; Radicals, 90- 
91 ; revolution of 1848-49, 82 ; scene 
of discord, 75; Socialists, 90-91, 93; 
unification, 87, 89. 

Ito, Marquis, Japanese statesman, 555- 
556. 

Iturbide, Augustin de, Mexican Em- 
peror, 480^81, 482, 491. 

lyeyasu Tokugawa, early Japanese 
leader, 547, 548. 

Jackson, Andrew, 400, 401, 402, 403- 

406. 
Jacobins, the, 18. 
Jameson, Dr., 319-320, 376. 
Japan , 9, 414-415, 547-560 ; commercial 

relations, 648-550, 558-559; feudal 

system, 547-549; finances, 557-500; 

form of government, 559; Hizen 



608 



INDEX 



Clan, 555; Liberal party, 555-557; 

Mikado, 547-551 ; party government, 

555-557 ; Progressive party. 555-557 ; 

rapid modern development, 551-552; 

reforms, 554-557; Shogunate, 547, 

548, 549, 550; spoils system, 55(>; 

Tosa Clan, 555; war with China, 

553-554. 
Java, 218. 
Jay, John, .389. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 387, 391-392, 403. 
Jesuits, expelled from Spain, 101, 104 ; 

Institutions of, closed in France, 56. 
Jews in Russia, 184. 
Johannesburg, 319, .369, 375. 
John III., King of Portugal, 114. 
John VI., King of Portugal and Brazil, 

116, 117, 522. 
John, Prince of Saxony, 163. 
Johnson, Andrew, 426-429. 
Johnson, Herschel V., Democratic 

vice-presidential candidate, 41i)- 

420. 
Johnson, Richard M., Vice-President 

under Van Buren, 405. 
Juarez, Benito, 483-486. 
Julian, George W., Free Soil vice- 
presidential candidate, 413. 
Junot, French general, 115, 116. 

Kabyles, Algerian tribe, 35. 

Kalakaua, King of Hawaii, 461. 

Kalnoky, Count, Austro-Hungarian 
Minister, 145. 

Kansas, 415-416. 

Kardjordje, or Black George, 157. 

Khartum, fall of, 310. 

Khyber Pass, 291, 305. 

Kiao-Chau, seized by Germany, 324. 

King, William R., Democratic vice- 
presidential candidate, 413, 

Kinkel, Gottfried, 203. 

Kingston, 334. 

Kioto, 547, 549, 551. 

Kitchener, General, 323. 

Kiushiu, 559. 

Klapka, Hungarian general, 142. 

Klephts, in Greece, 161. 

Klondike, 470. 

Knut the Great, 224. 

Koniggriitz, 144, 206. 

Korea, 551, 553, 554, 555. 



Kossuth, Francis, 148, 152. 

Kossuth, Louis, 142. 

Kostza, Martin, and the naturalization 

question, 414. 
Kotzebue, murder of, 199-200, 201. 
Krapotkin, Prince, 185. . 
Kruger, Paul, 319, 374-378. 
Ku-Klux-Klan. 428. 
Kuper, British admiral, 549. 

Labori, Maitre, 68. 

Lafayette, Marquis of, 34. 

Lamartine, Alphonse Marie Louis de, 
39. 

Lamballe, Princess de, 19. 

Lansgemeinden, general assemblies of 
Switzerland, 249. 

Lane, Joseph, Democratic vice-presi- 
dential candidate, 419, 420. 

Latin countries, 4, 10. 

Latin races, characteristics of. 111; 
decline of, 111. 

Laurier, Sir Wilfrid, 343-345. 

La Vende'e, 36. 

Lavigerie, Cardinal, supports the Re- 
public, 64. 

Lawrence, Sir Henry, 295. 

Lawrence, Lord John, 295. 

Lee, General Robert E., surrender of, 
423. 

Legion of Honor, 24. 

Leon, 113. 

Leopold I., King of Belgium, 124, 
125. 

Leopold II., King of Belgium, 125. 

Leopold II., head of the Holy Roman 
Empire, 1790-92, 198. 

Leopold, Prince of Saxe-Coburg, 163. 

Leopold, Prince of Sigmaringen, 43, 
105. 

Lerdo de Tejada, Mexican statesman, 
486. 

Lese majeste, 6. 

Lesseps, Charles de, 64. 

Lesseps, Ferdinand de, 64. 

Liao-tung peninsula, 324, 554. 

Liberia, 539-541, 544. 

Liechtenstein, 153. 

Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii, 461. 

Limousin scandal, 62. 

Lincoln, Abraham, 296, 383, 412, 419, 
420, 422-424, 426, 427-428, 571. 



INDEX 



609 



Liu-Kiu Islands, annexed by Japan, 

551. 
Liverpool, Lord, 277-278. 
Logan, John A., 444. 
Lombardy, 42, 85, 143. 
Lopez, Carlos A., ruler of Paraguay, 

527. 
Lopez, Francisco Salano, ruler of Para- 
guay, 527. 
Lorraine, 47,60, 61,208. 
Loubet, ;^mile, 68. 
Louis XVI., King of France, 16-19, 31, 

198, 238. 
Louis XVII., title given to Louis the 

Dauphin, 29. 
Louis XVIII., 26, 29-31, 70. 
Louis Napoleon, King of Holland, 39, 

216. 
Louis Philippe, 34-37, 40, 70. 103, 124, 

201. 
Louise, Princess of Hesse aud Queen 

of Denmark, 229. 
Lucca, annexed by Tuscany, 80. 
Lucknow, siege of, 295. 
Luddites, the, 273. 
Liiger, Dr., Austrian-German leader, 

149. 
Luis I., King of Portugal, 120. 
Luisa, Infanta of Spain, 37, 102. 
Luther, Martin, 197. 
Luxemburg, duchy of, 219. 
Lyons, uprising in, 36. 

McCarthy, Justin, 314. 

McClellan, General, 166. 

Macdonald, Sir John, 340-341. 

Macedonia, 164, 165. 

Machinery, in England, 272-273, 277. 

Mackay, Baron, Dutch statesman, 
220. 

Mackenzie, Alexander, 341. 

Mackintosh, Sir James, 284. 

McKinley, William, 462, 464-465, 467, 
470^71. 

MacMahon, Marshal, 44, 47, 50-55. 

Madison, James, 394, 539. 

Magna Charta, 265. 

Magnum, W. P., presidential candi- 
date in 1836, 405. 

Magyars, the, 5, 137, 138, 142, 143, 150, 
151, 166, 183. 

Mahdi, El, 310. 
2b 



Maine, United States battleship, 465. 

Malatesta family, 130. 

Malta, island of, 24. 

Manchester riot, 276. 

Manchuria, absorbed by Russia, 324. 

Mandingoes, 541. 

Manin, Daniel, Italian patriot, 82. 

Manitoba, school question, 343. 

Maoris, 357, 358. 361, 364. 

Marchand, Major, occupies British 
territory in Africa, 323. 

Margaret, Queen of Denmark, 236. 

Maria I., Queen of Portugal, 116. 

Maria Christina, Archduchess of Aus- 
tria, Queen Regent of Spain, 107, 
110. 

Maria Christina, Queen Regent of 
Spain, 37, 100-103. 

Maria da Gloria, Queen of Portugal, 
118-120. 

Maria Dagmar, Tsarina of Russia, 230. 

Maria Teresa, Princess of Spain, 107. 

Marie Antoinette, executed, 19. 

Marinus, Saint, 130. 

Marshall, John, 393. 

Martens, F., Russian jurist, 532. 

Maryland (African settlement) , 540. 

Mason and Slidell, 296. 

Matsugata, Count, Japanese states- 
man, 555. 

Maurice, Prince of Saxony, 197. 

Mavromichales family, 163. 

Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, 429- 
430, 485. 

Mazziui, Giuseppe, 79, 80, 81, 82, 87. 

Melgarejo, President of Bolivia, 521. 

Menelek, King of Abyssinia, 92. 

Mercedes, Queen of Spain, 106-107. 

Mercedes, Infanta of Spain, 107. 

Mesurado, Cape, 539. 

Metternich, Prince, 25, 27, 37, 78, 139- 
140, 146, 162, 198-201, 217. 

Mexico, 479-489; allied to the Latin 
nations, 8 ; Church party, 481-484 ; 
Empire established, 481 ; form of 
government, 488-489 ; French troops 
withdrawn from Maximilian, 429- 
430; independence secured, 481 ; in- 
vaded by France, 42; invaded by 
Spanish, French, and British troops, 
484-485 ; offends France, 35 ; pros- 
perity under Diaz, 486-488 ; religion, 



610 



INDEX 



481 ; Republic established, 481 ; revolt 
against Spain, 479-481 ; war with the 
United States, 482-483. 

Michael, Prince of Servia, 158-159. 

Middle Ages, 3. 

Miguel, Dom, 117-119. 

Milan, 76, 77, 81. 

Milan, King of Servia, 159, 160. 

Milan, Prince of Servia, 158. 

Milosh Obrenovitch, Prince of Servia, 
158, 159. 

Mitre, Brigadier-General of the Ar- 
gentine Republic, 519. 

Modena, 76, 77. 79, 81, 82, 85. 

Modena, Duke of, 79. 

Moldavia, 167-169. 

Moltke. General von, 44, 205, 206. 

Monagas, General, of Venezuela, 531. 

Monroe, James, 396, 399-400. 

Monroe Doctrine, 321, 399-400. 

Montefeltro family, 130, 131. 

Montenegro, 154, 171, 177-179; Con- 
stitution, 178 ; education, 178. 

Montpensier, Duke of, 37, 102-103, 
106. 

Montreal, 334. 

Montt, Jorge, President of Chili, 524. 

Moors, 96, 113, 114. 

Morazan, Francisco, Central Ameri- 
can patriot, 493-495, 500. 

Morelos, Jose Maria, Mexican revo- 
lutionary leader, 480. 

Moreno, Dr. Gabriel Garcia, President 
of Ecuador, 527. 

Mormons, 407. 

Morton, Levi P., 450. 

Moreau, General, 22. 

Mountain, the, 22. 

Mufti, interpreters of the Koran, 179. 

Murat, Marshal, 76. 

Murillo, Spanish general, 508. 

Nagato, Prince of, 549-550. 

Napier, Sir Charles, 119. 

Napier, SirR., 299. 

Naples, 76, 77, 78, 81, 85, 86. 

Napoleon I., Emperor of France, 20, 
28, 76, 131, 139, 181, 198, 216, 507; 
career, 21-27; relations with Den- 
mark, 225 ; with England, 269-272 ; 
with the United States, 391-392. 

Napoleon II., 41. 



Napoleon III., 22, 35, 39-45, 50, 82, 84- 
85, 88, 131, 206-207, 485. 

Natal, 366, 371, 373. 

Nathalie, Queen of Servia, 159. 

Nebraska, 415, 430. 

Necker, Jacques, 16. 

Needle-gun, 43, 205. 

Nelson, Lord, 21, 25, 

Nemours, Due de, 124. 

Nesselrode, Russian Chancellor, 292. 

Netherlands, 1, 123. 

Netherlands East India Company, 365. 

New Brunswick, 331, 334. 

Newfoundland, 7, 345-346. 

New Granada, 508, 512, 525. 

New Guinea, 210. 

New Mexico, 409, 411. 

New Zealand, 8, 10, 357-364, 570; arbi- 
tration in, 362; finances, 360; gov- 
ernment, 360-364 ; resources, 359. 

New Zealand Company, 358. 

Nicaragua, 493-495, 498-499, 504. 

Nice, 80, 85. 

Nicholas I., Tsar of Russia, 42, 168, 
182, 183, 184, 187, 218, 292. 

Nicholas II., Tsar of Russia, 190-192. 

Nihilism, 185-190. 

Noricum, 137. 

Norway, 5, 225, 242-248. 

Norway and Sweden united, 244. 

Norwegian, 2; temperament of, 5. 

Nova Scotia, 331, 334. 

O'Connell, Daniel, 279. 
O'Donnell, Spanish general, 103. 
O'Donoju, General, viceroy of Mexico, 

481. 
Oesterreich, Margraviate of, 137-138. 
Okuma, Count, Japanese statesman, 

555-557. 
Opportunists in France, 58. 
Orange Free State, 367, 369, 373. 
Orange, House of, 215-217. 
Orleanists, 49, 52, 54. 
Orleans, Duke of, 65, 67. 
Orleans, Duke of, see Louis Philippe. 
Oscar I., King of Sweden, 241. 
Oscar II., King of Sweden, 242, 246. 
Ottawa, 334. 
Otto of Bavaria, King of Greece, 163* 

164. 
Ottomans, 154. 



INDEX 



611 



Oxford, University of, 274. 
Ozaki, Japanese Minister of Educa- 
tion, 556. 

Pact of 1815 (Swiss), 255, 256. 

Paez, Jose' Antonio, 509-510, 531. 

Palermo, 86. 

Palmella, Duke of, 119. 

Palmer, Senator, 4()3. 

Palmerston, Lord, 37, 278, 293-294, 298, 
300, 308, 317. 

Panama Canal, scandal of, 64. 

Pannouia, 137. 

Paraguay, 507, 516^18, 519, 527-528. 

Paris, capitulates to the allies, 25 ; 
makes and unmakes governments, 
38; rebuilt by Napoleon III., 41; 
riots in, 36, 47. 

Paris, Count of, 37, 38, 50, 62, 63, 65. 

Paris Exposition of 1889, 63. 

Parisian populace, 17, 19, 71. 

Parkes, Sir Henry, 353, 356, 

Parkman, Francis, 395. 

Parma, 77, 79, 81, 82, 85. 

Parnell, Charles Stuart, 307-308, 312, 
314. 

Patagonia, 506. 

Paul, Tsar of Russia, 180. 

Peace Convention of 1899, 191. 

Pedro I., Emperor of Brazil, 117-120, 
522. 

Pedro v.. King of Portugal, 120. 

Pedro, Don Manuel, President of Peru, 
528. 

Peel, Robert, 275, 278, 288. 

Peereboom, van den, Belgian states- 
man, 127. 

Pelloux, General, 91. 

Perry, Commodore, M. C, 415, 548. 

Perry, Captain, 415. 

Peru, 507-509, 511, 513-514, 516, 528-530. 

Pescadores Islands, 554, 559. 

Petrovitch, George (Black George) , 157. 

Petrovitch, Peter, Prince of Montene- 
gro, 178. 

Petrovitch Nyegush, Prince of Monte- 
negro, 178. 

Philip II., King of Spain, 96, 114, 123, 
217, 221. 

Philip III., King of Spain, 96. 

Philip IV., King of Spain, 97. 

Philippe :^galite', 34. 



Philippine Islands, 110, 465-467, 471. 

Phoenix Park murder, 308. 

Picquart, Colonel, 66, 67. 

Pierce, Franklin, 413-416. 

Pitt, William, 267, 269, 270, 275, 278. 

Pius VI., Pope of Rome, 76. 

Pius VII., Pope of Rome, 76. 

Pius VIII., Pope of Rome, 79. 

Pius IX., Pope of Rome, 80, 81, 131, 
208, 209. 

Plevna, siege of, 169. 

Plimsoll, British legislator, 304. 

Poland, 29; becomes a Russian prov- 
ince, 182. 

Poles, the, 5. 

Polignac, Prince, 32. 

Polk, James K., 408. 

Port Arthur, ceded to Russia, 324. 

Portland, Duke of, 270. 

Portocallo, 114. 

Porto Rico, 466, 471. 

Portugal, 113-121 ; constitutional gov- 
ernment, 116-117, 120-121; Cortes, 
116, 118-120; education, 120; 
finances, 121 ; freed from France, 
116; geography of, 113; Inquisition 
in, 114; insurrection of 1820, 117; 
loses her colonies, 115, 522; Na- 
poleon in, 115-116; political unrest 
of, 4, 8; rebels against Spain, 115; 
religion, 114; sixty years' captivity, 
115. 

Portuguese explorers,' 114. 

Pra Yaut, case of, 69. 

Pribiloff Islands, 342. 

Prim, General, 104, 105. 

Prince Edward Island, 331, 334. 

Protocol of London, 163. 

Provence, Count of, see Louis XVIII. 

Prussia, 88-89, 139, 144, 198, 199, 200, 
201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 212; 
annexes Schleswig, 205; combines 
with Austria and Piedmont to re- 
store Louis XVI., 19; governed for 
the aristocracy, 1 ; humbled by Na- 
poleon, 25. 

Radetsky, Austrian general, 81, 82. 

Rainsford, Marcus, " Black Empire of 
Haiti," 542. 

Rattazzi, Minister under Victor Em- 
manuel, 87-88. 



612 



INDEX 



Reconcentrados, 110. 

"Red Shirts" (Garibaldi's soldiers), 
80. 

Reformation, the, 197. 

Regalado, Tomaso, politician of Sal- 
vador, 499. 

Raid, Whitelaw, 455. 

Reign of Terror, the, 19, 27, 238. 

Rennes, 68. 

Republic of Natalia, 366. 

Repiiblica Dominicana, 545. 

Republicans in France, 48, 52, 58, 64. 

Revolution, age of, 29. 

Rhine, the, made the frontier of 
France, 20, 22. 

Ricasoli, Baron Bettino, successor of 
Cavour, 87. 

Richelieu, 15. 

Riel, Louis, Canadian insurrectionary 
leader, 339. 

Riener, van, Dutch statesman, 220. 

Rigsdag, of Denmark, 228. 

Rimini, 130, 131. 

Rio de la Plata, 507. 

Ripon, Lord, 563. 

Ritualism in England, 304, 326-327. 

Rivadavia, Bernardino, reformer at 
Buenos Ayres, 517, 518, 519. 

Roberts, Joseph J., President of Libe- 
ria, 540. 

Robespierre, Maximilien, 19, 21. 

Rodolf, Emperor of Germany, 138. 

Rodriguez, General, M. D., ruler at 
Buenos Ayres, 517. 

Roland, Madame, executed, 19. 

Rome, 88. 

Romilly, Sir Samuel, 284. 

Rondeau, Jose, director of Buenos 
Ayres, 517. 

Rosas, dictator at Buenos Ayres, 519. 

Rosebery, Lord, 316, 317, 318. 

Rossi, Count, assassinated, 81. 

Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 180. 

Rudini, Marquis di, Italian Prime 
Minister, 90-91. 

Rugen, Island of, 238. 

Rumania, 167-170. 

Rumanians, 150. 

Rush, Richard, National Republican 
vice-presidential candidate, 402. 

Russell, Lord John, 275, 282, 283, 295, 
296, 300. 



Russia, 180-193; aids Austria in sub- 
duing Hungary, 142; aids Greece, 
162, 182 ; an absolute monarchy, 180 ; 
area and population, 193 ; becomes a 
great Europeau power, 181 ; Church 
in, 193; commerce, 182, 184, 188; 
Council of Empire instituted, 181 ; 
defeats Turkey, 188-189; diplo- 
macy, 190; education, 182, 184, 193; 
emancipation of the serfs, 181, 
184, 185; governed lor the aristoc- 
racy, 4 ; in Asia, 182, 188 ; invaded 
by Napoleon, 25 ; is slow to interfere 
in behalf of the Armenians, 318; 
loses control of the Black Sea, 42; 
Nihilism, 185-190; obtains the right 
of navigation in the Black Sea, the 
Dardanelles, etc., 183; oppresses the 
Finns, 192 ; Polish insurrection, 185 ; 
progressive character of its civ- 
ilization, 10, 181, 184, 187, 191-192; 
railroads, 188, 190; relations with 
Bulgaria, 171-175; with China, 190, 
324-325; with Germany, 208; with 
Persia, 182 : with Rumania, 168-169 ; 
with Servia, 158-159, 188. 

Russo-Turkish War, 165, 169, 188, 304- 
305. 

Ruthenians, 5. 

Sagasta, Praxedes Mateo, 108, 110. 

Saldanha, Duke of, 119. 

Salic Law, in Spain, 100; in Holland, 
216. 

Salisbury, Lord, 311-312, 314, 316-318, 
321, 322, 323, 461. 

Salvador, Republic of, 493-496, 498, 
503-504. 

Sampson, Admiral, 465. 

San Juan, island of, 431, 470. 

San Juan de Ulloa, 35. 

San Marino. 89, 130-132. 

San Martin, Jose de, 510-511, 512. 

San Stephano, Peace of, 188. 

Santa Anna, 482-483. 

Santander, Vice-President of Colom- 
bia, 514. 

Santo Cesario, assassin, 65. 

Santo Domingo, 9, 543-543, 545-546. 

Sardinia, 75, 77, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85. 

Satsuma, Prince of, 549-550. 

Savoy, 75, 79, 85. 



INDEX 



613 



Saxe-Weimar, Grand Duke of, 199. 

Saxon, the, 2. 

Saxony, 29, 200, 201, 202, 206. 

Scheurer-Kestner, French statesman, 
66. 

Schley, Admiral, 465. 

Schurz, Carl, 203, 432, 441. 

Scotland, 266. 

Scott, General Winfield, 413. 

Seal fisheries, question between Can- 
ada and the United States, 341, 343, 
431, 469. 

Sebastopol, 42, 184. 

Seljuks, 154. 

Sepoy Mutiny, 294-295. 

Serbs, 156, 175. 

Serrano, General, 104, 105. 

Servia, 157-161 ; Constitution, 159-161 ; 
freed from Turkish rule, 159, 171, 
188. 

Sewall, Arthur, 462. 

Seward, William H., 416. 

Seymour, Horatio, 430. 

Shaftesbury, Earl of, 275, 287. 

Shaw, William, Irish political leader, 
307. 

Sherbro Island, 539. 

Sherman, John, 437, 443. 

Shikoku, 559. 

Shimonoseki, Strait of, 550. 

Siam, 565-567. 

Siberia, 9, 192. 

Sicily, 76, 78, 81, 86. 

Sigurdson, Jon, 234. 

Silesia, 140. 

Simon, Jules, 46, 53. 

Single tax movement, 439, 453. 

Slavs, 5, 10, 137, 138, 140-141, 143, 144, 
149, 150, 156, 160, 172. 

Slidell, 296. 

Snell, Ludwig, Swiss reformer, 254. 

Social Democrats, growth of in Ger- 
many, 6. 

Socialists, in America, 446, 462-463 ; in 
France, 63,64 ; in Germany, 209-210. 

Somaliland, 210. 

Sonderbund, in Switzerland, 255. 

Sonnino, Baron, Italian financier, 95. 

Soudan, the, 320, 322-323. 

Soult, Marshal, 35, 36. 

South Africa, 10, 365-379 ; claims made 
by European powers, 371; Dutch 



settlements, 365; English settle- 
ments, 365-367; government, 367- 
369, 373; native tribes, 367; re- 
sources, 368-370 ; slavery abolished, 
366. 

South America, 506-533 ; allied to the 
Latin nations, 8 ; Confederation 
Granadina, 525; the United Prov- 
inces of Rio de la Plata, 516-517, 519. 

Spain, 96-112 ; anarchists in, 108 ; Carl- 
ist movement, 100, 101, 105, 106; 
cedes the Philippines to the United 
States, 110; Cortes, the, 98, 99, 102, 
10.3-104, 107; Cuban insurrection, 
1868-78, 105, 108; insurrection of 
1895, 109-111, 461, 465; decline, 96- 
97; democracy, 97, 102; education, 
108, 112 ; finances, 108 ; form of gov- 
ernment, 112; French army in, 100; 
governed for the aristocracy, 1; in 
America, 479-481, 490, 506-509; in- 
surrection of 1820, 99; of 1854, 103; 
of 1868, 104; Liberals, 99, 100, 101; 
loses Santo Domingo, 545-546; 
Moors, 96; political unrest, 4, 8; 
regency of Maria Christina, 107, 
108 ; of Serrano, 105 ; religious policy, 
96, 99, 100, 101, 112; Republic under 
Castelar, 106 ; revenues from Amer- 
ican possessions, 96 ; revolt of the 
Netherlands in 1566, 122; revolt of 
Mexico, 479-481 ; of the South Amer- 
ican Colonies, 99; royal succession 
and the Salic Law, 100 ; sells the two 
Floridas, 99 ; under Napoleon I., 97- 
98. 

Spaniard, the, 2. 

Spanish Constitution, 77. 

Spanish marriages, 37, 103. 

Speranski, liberal Russian Minister, 
182. 

Staal, de, Russian ambassador, 191. 

Stambuloff, Stephen, 172-174. 

Stanton, Edwin M., 428-429. 

States-General, the, summoned in 
1614, 15; in 1789, 17. 

States of the Church, the, 29, 75, 76, 
77, 79, 88, 89. 

Stephens, Alexapder, 413, 420. 

Stevenson, Adlai E., 455. 

Storthing, national Diet of Norway, 
244. 



614 



INDEX 



Stralsund, 238. 

Strasburg, 39. 

Sucre, General Antonio Jose de, 510. 

Suez Canal, 308. 

Sumatra, 221. 

Sumner, Charles, 413, 416. 

Sweden, 1, 5, 237-242. 

Sweden and Norway, 236-248 ; friction 
between, 246-247. 

Swiss Confederation, 6. 

Swiss guards, massacre of, 19. 

Swiss people, political development of, 
570. 

Switzerland, 249-260 ; classed with the 
Germanic countries, 6 ; Constitution, 
257-258; controlled by an aristoc- 
racy, 1 ; Popular Initiative, 258 ; rec- 
ognized as an independent power, 
253 ; Referendum, 257-260. 

Tacna, claimed by Peru and Chili, 529. 

Takahu, Emperor of Japan, 547. 

Talien-wan, 324. 

Talleyrand, Duke of, 28. 

Tarapaca, ceded to Peru, 529. 

Tasman, Dutch navigator, 347. 

Taylor, Zachary, 410, 412. 

Teba, Countess of, see Eugenie. 

Terceira, 118. 

Teutonic countries, national character 
in, 5, 6. 

Teutonic peoples, 4, 10. 

Texas, 407-408, 411. 

Theodore, King of Abyssinia, 299. 

Thessaly, 164-165, 166. 

Thorbecke, de, Dutch Liberal leader, 
218, 220, 221. 

Thurman, Allen G., 450. 

Tilden, Samuel J., 434, 436. 

Times (London) , 293, 312. 

Ting, Admiral, 554. 

Tokio, 551. 

Torre-Tagle, Marquis of, 514. 

Toussaint L'Ouverture, 542. 

Trans-Siberian Railway, 190, 324. 

Transvaal, 305-307, 367, 369, 373-379. 

Transylvania, 151, 167. 

Treaties: Akerman, 168; Amiens, 22, 
365; Berlin, 165, 169, 171-172; 1818, 
341; Frankfort, 47, 49; Frederiks- 
borg, 227 ; Kiel, 243,- Lune'ville, 22 ; 
Mississippi, 389; Paris, 169, 184; 



Utrecht, 123, 345; Valen9ay, 98; 
Washington, 341 ; Westphalia, 249. 

Treaty of "benevolent neutrality" 
between Germany and Russia, ^8. 

Trent Affair, 296. 

Trepoff, General, shot by Vera Zas- 
sulic, 186. 

Triple Alliance, the, 60, 89, 208. 

Trusts, 448-4i9. 

Tuileries, the, invaded and sacked, 19. 

Tupac Amaru II., 507. 

Turin, 78. 

Turk, the, 5. 

Turkey (in Europe), 178-179; men- 
aced by Russia, 42, 182, 183, 188, 292 ; 
not represented in the Congress of 
Vienna, 28; relations with Armenia, 
317-318; with Bulgaria, 170-171; 
with Greece, 161-167; with Molda- 
via and Wallachia, 167-169; with 
Montenegro, 177 ; with Servia, 157- 
159. 

Turks in the Balkan Peninsula, 154- 
159. 

Tuscany, 76, 77, 80, 81, 82, 85. 

Two Sicilies, the, 76. 

Tyler, John, 407-408. 

Tyrol, the, 89. 

Uitlanders, 319, 375-378. 

Ulema, Turkish Council, 179. 

Ultra-Montanes, in Belgium, 126. 

United Irishmen, 267. 

United States, 383-473; Alabama 
Claims, 297, 303, 431, 470; Alaska 
purchased, 430; Alien Labor Laws, 
469 ; Alien and Sedition Laws,391 ; an 
Anglo-Saxon country, 8 ; Anti-Fed- 
eralist party, 387-392, 401 ; Articles 
of Confederation, 383; Chinese im- 
migration, 446 ; Civil Service Reform, 
437, 442-443, 445, 461^62, 470-471, 
570; Civil War, 296, 422-425; Compro- 
mise Tariff, 405, 411 ; Congress, 383, 
385; Constitution, 383-386, 390, 427, 
429, 430, 467-468; Twelfth Amend- 
ment to, 391 ; Thirteenth Amendment 
to, 427; Fourteenth Amendment to, 
427^28; Fifteenth Amendment to, 
430 ; Contract Labor Act (1885) 446; 
Declaration of Independence, 383; 
Democrats, 401, 405, 407, 408, 410, 



INDEX 



615 



413, 416-417, 419-420, 430, 432, 434- 
436, 441, 444-445, 450, 455, 456, 462- 
464; Dingley Bill, 464; Electoral 
Commission, the (1876)435-136 ; Em- 
bargo Bill, 392-393; Era of Good 
Feeling, 396, 401; Federalist party, 
387-392, 401, 402; finances, 387, 
395-396, 405, 406, 407, 424-425, 430, 
433, 434, 437-438, 439-440, 443, 451- 
453, 456-457, 464, 468-469 ; First Con- 
tinental Congress, 383; first treaty 
with Japan, 414-415 ; Free Silver 
party, 434, 439-440, 453, 462-464; 
Free Soil party, 409-410, 413, 416 ; 
Gold Democrats, 462^63; Green- 
back party, 434; Imperialism, 467, 
471-472; Independent party, 432; 
Indian affairs, 401, 433, 441 ; influ- 
ence of the, on Spanish-American 
States, 9; Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 
415-416; Know-Nothing party, 417 ; 
laboring classes, 438-439, 446, 459- 
460, 571-572; Louisiana Purchase, 
392; lynch law, 454; McKinley Bill, 
451, 452, 453, 456, 464; Mississippi 
Treaty, 389; Missouri Compromise 
Bill, 399, 411, 415, 418; National 
Bank, 403-404, 407; National Re- 
publican party, 401-402, 405; natu- 
ralization of citizens, 414 ; negro 
suffrage, 427-428, 430, 433, 434-435; 
Non-Intercourse Act, 393-394 ; Nul- 
lification, 404; Omnibus Bill, 411- 
412, 415 ; Oregon boundary decided 
by the German Emperor, 433; pen- 
sion abuses, 446, 452; political cor- 
ruption, 385, 432-433, 472^73; Pop- 
ulist party, 455, 462; protection, 
388, 395-396, 402, 443, 450^51, 464; 
rapid growth, 415, 417, 431 ; reciproc- 
ity, 453, 469; reconstruction period, 
427^28, 430, 431, 432, 434; relations 
with Canada, 338-339, 431, 469-470; 
with England, 383, 389, 392, 394-395, 
470; with France, 389-390, 391, 392- 
393, 394 ; with Hawaii, 461 ; Repub- 
lican party, 416-417, 419-420, 427- 
429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434-436, 441, 
444-445, 450, 452, 455, 456, 462-464 
secession of slave States, 420-421 
Sherman Act, 451 , 456 ; slavery, 386 
396-399, 402, 408-410, 411, 413, 421, 



422, 423 ; Spanish claims to the Mis- 
sissippi River, 389; spoils system, 
403, 437, 442-443, 445, 470-171 ; squat- 
ter sovereignty, 419; State social- 
ism, 449; State sovereignty, 401; 
sub-treasury system adopted, 406; 
tariff laws, 404-405, 443, 445, 449, 
450-451, 452, 458-459, 464, 569; Ten- 
ure of Office Act, 428-429; trusts, 
448; Venezuela question, 321, 460- 
461, 532, 533; War of 1812, 271-272, 
394-395 ; War of Independence, 383- 
384; war with Mexico, 407, 409, 
482-483 ; war with Spain, 110, 465- 
466; Whig party, 405, 407, 408, 410, 
413,416; Wilmot Proviso, 409 ; Wil- 
son Bill, 458. 

Universal suffrage, 4. 

University of France, 23. 

Urgel, Bishop of, and Andorra, 133. 

Uruguay, 507, 516-518, 527, 530-531. 

Usugara, German colony, 210. 

Utah, 407, 411. 

Uzes, Duchess d', 63. 

Van Buren, Martin, 405-406, 407, 409, 

410. 
Vasco de Gama, 115, 366. 
Vendome column, 51. 
Venetia, 84-85. 88, 206. 
Venezuela, 507-509, 512, 514, 515, 516, 

531-533. 
Venezuela question, 320-321, 460-461, 

532-533. 
Venice, 42, 76, 77, 81, 82. 
Venice, Republic of, 75. 
Vera Zassulic, 186. 
Versailles, 46, 207. 
Victor Emmanuel I., 77, 78. 
Victor Emmanuel II., 82-90. 
Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 88, 

220, 286, 290, 304. 
Vienna, insurrection in, 140. 
Vlach, the, 5, 156, 167-169, 175. 
Voltaire, Fran9ois M. A. de, 180. 

Wakefield, Edward Gibbon, 351, 358, 

360. 
Wales, Alexandra, Princess of, 230. 
Wallachia, 167-168. 
Walloons, 122-123, 128. 
Washington, Bushrod, 539. 



616 



INDEX 



Washington, George, 387, 389-390, 513. 

"Watson, Thomas E., 462. 

Wayne, Anthony, 389. 

Weaver, People's party presidential 

candidate, 456. 
Webster, Daniel, 404-405, 407, 411-412. 
Wei-Hai-Wei, acquired by England, 

324. 
Wellington, Duke of, 25, 26, 55, 62, 

272, 278-279, 281, 283, 290, 310. 
Weyler, General, 109-110, 465. 
Wheeler, William A., 443. 
Whiskey Ring, 433. 
White, Hugh L., presidential candi- 
date in 1836, 405. 
Whitney, Eli, 396. 
Wilhelm, Prince of Denmark, see 

George I., King of Greece. 
Wilhelmina. Queen of Holland, 222. 
William I. , German Emperor and King 

of Prussia, 43, 46, 204, 207, 211. 
William XL, German Emperor and 

King of Prussia, 6, 211, 213. 
William IV., King of England, 279, 

282, 283, 286, 358. 
William I., King of the Netherlands, 

217. 



William II., King of Holland, 217, 218. 
William III., King of Holland, 218, 

221, 222. 
William V., Stadtholder of Holland, 

215-216. 
Wilson (Gre'vy's son-in-law), 62. 
Wilson, Henry, 432. 
Witwatersrand, 369. 
Wolseley, Sir Garnet, 306. 
Wurtemberg, 199, 201. 

Yamagata, Marquis, Japanese states- 
man, 557. 
Yezo, island of, 547, 559. 
Yoritomo, Shogun of Japan, 547. 
Young Italy, Society of, 79, 80. 
Ypsilanti, Alexander, 168. 

Zalvidar, President of Salvador, 497-. 
498. 

Zauyon, compromise of, 108. 

Zelaya, Santos, President of Nica- 
ragua, .504. 

Zola^ Emile, 66, 68. 

ZoUverein, the, 200. 

Zumalacarregui, Carlist general, 100- 
101. 



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